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Unravelling the thread: textile production in New Kingdom Egypt

Project description

Textile production in Ancient Egypt

Textile production played a significant role in Ancient Egypt’s economy. The EU-funded EgYarn project will identify the main protagonists of textile manufacture (women, men, slaves or private entrepreneurs) and show how domestic and non-domestic production interacted in the New Kingdom. The project will analyse textiles, tools and fibres in order to understand production mechanisms; through the use of experimental archaeology, it will provide fundamental clues about ancient fibres, how tools were used and what qualities of thread and textile could be produced using these instruments. Furthermore, the project will initiate and design a European collections database of New Kingdom tools and textiles now stored in European museums.

Objective

The EgYarn project will study the textile production of New Kingdom Egypt (1550-1070 BCE). It offers a remarkable opportunity to understand a largely unexplored sector of Ancient Egypt’s economy and society of Ancient Egypt, making use of outstanding finds of textile tools, textiles and written sources.
The project will enable in-depth comprehension of the chaîne opératoire, identify the main protagonists of textile manufacture (women, men, slaves or private entrepreneurs) and show how domestic and non-domestic production interacted. It will reveal the place of New Kingdom textile practises with respect to Mediterranean and African Late Bronze Age traditions. Lastly, it will build a European collections database of the New Kingdom tools and textiles stored in European museums, bringing them back together again more than a century after their discovery.
Textiles, tools (spindles, whorls, parts of looms) and fibres will be analysed in order to understand production mechanism, while archaeological contexts and textual sources will furnish precious data about the organisation of textile manufacture. Experimental archaeology will provide fundamental clues about ancient fibres, how tools were used and what qualities of thread and textile could be produced using these instruments. Key sites are Deir el-Medina and Gurob, but the project will also encompass textiles and tools from other New Kingdom sites now kept in European museums.
Through the EgYarn project, I will reinforce my research methodology and strengthen my knowledge of textile analysis, becoming an all-around textile researcher, able to address every issue raised by archaeological textiles. The project will give me the opportunity to acquire expertise in teaching at an academic level and participating and organising seminars/workshops, developing my international network in both textile archaeology and Egyptology.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 219 312,00
Address
NORREGADE 10
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark

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Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 219 312,00
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