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Ancient Egyptian & Greek Looms

I. EGYPTIAN LOOMS.

HORIZONTAL LOOMS.[A]

In the tomb of Chnem-hotep, at Beni Hasan, there is a wall painting of
a horizontal loom with two weavers, women, squatting on either side,
and at the right in the background is drawn the figure of the
taskmaster. There are also figures represented in the act of spinning,
etc. For the present we are concerned with the weaving only.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Horizontal Loom, Tomb of Chnem-hotep, from the
illustration in Cailliaud's _Recherches_, etc. Same size as
published.]

Of this illustration, there appear to be six reproductions. We have
first of all, Fig. 1, that of Fred. Cailliaud (_Recherches sur les
Arts et Métiers_, etc., Paris, 1831) with illustrations of drawings
made by himself in the years 1819 to 1822. His publication was
followed by Fig. 2, that of Sir J. G. Wilkinson (_Manners and
Customs_, etc., London, 1837). Mr. John Murray, whose house has
published Wilkinson's work from the first edition to the last, informs
me that a few of the drawings were made by George Scharf, afterwards
Sir George Scharf, Keeper of the National Portrait Gallery, but that
most of them seem to have been made by Joseph Bonomi, the well known
Egyptologist. Wilkinson's woodcut, although clearly and neatly done,
is on a very small scale; nevertheless it admits of a fair comparison
with those reproduced on a larger scale.

[Illustration:

Figs. 1 & 3. Weaving.

Fig. 2. Loom.

" 3. Putting in the woof, but not
by a shuttle thrown with
the hand.

" 4. Male Overseer.

" 5. Hackling.

" 6. Twisting the double threads
for the warp.

_a_ Weaving.
_b_ Chief of Loom.
_c_ Facing.
_d_ Pulling out.

Fig. 2.--Horizontal Loom, Tomb of Chnem-hotep, from Sir J. G.
Wilkinson's _Manners and Customs_, London, John Murray, 1878, Vol. I.,
p. 317. Same size as published.]

"1112963826"

Ancient Egyptian & Greek Looms