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title: "Textiles Activities in Context. An Example of Craft Organization in Meroitic Sudan"
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authors: ["elsayvanez.md"]
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abstract: In Sudan and Nubia, textile implements such as spindle whorls and loom weights are common finds, especially in the excavations of both rural and urban Meroitic settlements. This paper will focus on restoring the textile implements to their archeological locations in order to identify and understand the context of textile activities within the two settlements of Tila Island and Meroe-city. The two sites - a small rural settlement on one hand and the royal capital city on the other hand - offer various examples of how craft production was integrated amidst the Meroitic urban landscape. From domestic production inside living quarters to the creation of multi-tasking industrial areas, the making of textiles was tightly woven into the economic fabric of the Meroitic kingdom.
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keywords: ["Meroitic settlements", "craft organization", "textile production"]
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keywords: ["Nubia", "Meroe", "tools", "Meroitic settlements", "craft organization", "textile production"]
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---
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# Introduction [^1]
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@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ sources and their relations can be summarized in a diagram displaying
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the interdependence between textiles and their production context
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(Fig.1).
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**~~Figure 1. Textile production as interactions between resources, technology and society (adapted from Andersson Strand et al. 2010: 151).~~**
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Despite the inherent limitations of such theoretical models, this
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diagram successfully illustrates the textile artefacts within their own
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production environment. It highlights the results of a complex *chaîne
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@ -88,8 +91,12 @@ Spinning tools are by far the most prominent material source, especially
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the spindle whorls, which survived in the archaeological record in a
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much greater number than other wooden or metallic spindle pieces. Found
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at Ballana in grave B58, a complete spindle[^14] provides a reliable
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example of this type of tools, its construction and use (Fig. 2). This
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simple tool is composed of a spindle shaft and a whorl, placed at the
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example of this type of tools, its construction and use (Fig. 2).
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**~~Figure 2. Complete spindle, Ballana, tomb B58. (Reproduced from Williams 1991: vol. 1, 159, fig. 61e. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago).~~**
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This simple tool is composed of a spindle shaft and a whorl, placed at the
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top and secured by the insertion of a metal hook that was used to attach
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the newly formed yarn. In the hand or suspended and then set in motion,
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the tool rotates to twist the fibers together and form the thread.
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@ -102,6 +109,15 @@ there is an interesting dichotomy between the artefacts recovered in
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Nubia, which favored turned wooden whorls, and those from Central Sudan,
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where decorated ceramic was clearly preferred (see Figs. 3, 5, 8).
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**~~Figure 3. Tila Island, House VI: map and location of textile tools (photographs and drawings E.Yvanez. from A.J. Mills’s excavation diaries, map reproduced from Edwards 1996: 113, fig. 36).~~**
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![Tila Island, House II: bone points (drawings E. Yvanez from A.J. Mills’s excavation diaries).](../static/images/yvanez/fig5.jpg "Tila Island, House II: bone points (drawings E. Yvanez from A.J. Mills’s excavation diaries)
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**~~Figure 5. Tila Island, House II: bone points (drawings E. Yvanez from A.J. Mills’s excavation diaries).~~**
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**~~Figure 8. Ceramic spindle whorl from Meroe-city with pattern of a sorgho plant, from oven area M260. SNM 604 (photograph E. Yvanez, courtesy of the Sudan National Museum).~~**
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Other types of implements -- used for weaving this time -- contribute
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additional material evidence of textile production. Due to the rare
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preservation of organic material on settlement sites, it has proved
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@ -185,6 +201,9 @@ fulfilled similar functions.
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*House I* (Fig. 4)
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**~~Figure 4. Tila Island, House I: map and location of textile tools (drawings E. Yvanez. from A.J. Mills’s excavation diaries, map reproduced from Edwards 1996: 106, fig. 30).~~**
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The first occupation level in House I was relatively well preserved
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under brick rubble.[^23] The structure consists of a roughly rectangular
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building centered around a courtyard, with a series of three utilitarian
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@ -219,6 +238,12 @@ House I.
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*House II* (Figs. 5-6-7)
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**~~Figure 6. Tila Island, House II: spindle whorls and bone point discarded in latrines (room 7) (photograph and drawings E. Yvanez from A.J. Mills’s excavation diaries).~~**
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**~~Figure 7. Tila Island, “House II collection of loom weights” (excavation photograph ref. F/445: 6, A.J. Mills archives, courtesy of David Edwards).~~**
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House II is a building complex formed by at least nine different housing
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units.[^24] Textile tools were found dispersed without distinction
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throughout many rooms and occupation levels. The inventories
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@ -348,6 +373,9 @@ surprising to find within their walls a great number of textile tools,
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accumulated by several generations. The context of textile production is
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still domestic, here distributed along a residential street of Meroe.
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**~~Figure 9. Meroe-city, trench TT6 between I and G 50/51: map and location of textile tools (drawings E. Yvanez, reproduced from Shinnie & Bradley 1980: fig. 8, fig. 81-82, 216-217).~~**
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*North mound*
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The northern part of the North mound was explored by three main trenches
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@ -404,6 +432,9 @@ textile activities were an important aspect of the life of this
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building, and that they were inserted within a mixed domestic and
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industrial urban environment.
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**~~Figure 10. Meroe-city, north mount building I.A: map and location of textile tools (drawings E. Yvanez reproduced from Shinnie & Bradley 1980: fig. 23, fig. 81-82, 216-217).~~**
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# Discussion
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Despite the geographic distance between Tila and Meroe and their
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@ -525,7 +556,7 @@ Andersson Strand, Eva. "Engendering Central Places: Some Aspects of the
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Organisation of Textile Production during Viking Age." In
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*Archäologische Textilfunde -- Archaeological Textiles, NESAT IX*,
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edited by Antoinette Rast-Eicher and Renata Windler, pp.
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148-53[.]{.smallcaps} Ennenda: ArcheoTex, 2007.
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148-53. Ennenda: ArcheoTex, 2007.
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Andersson Strand, Eva, Karin Frei. Margarita Gleba, Ulla Mannering,
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Marie-Louise Nosch, and Irene Skals. "Old Textiles, New Possibilities."
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@ -544,7 +575,7 @@ Urban Settlement of Riverine Upper Nubia." *Sudan & Nubia* 12 (2008):
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pp. 52-63.
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Baud, Michel. "Méroé, un monde urbain." In *Méroé, Un empire sur le
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Nil,* edited by Michel Baud, pp. 211-17[.]{.smallcaps} Paris: Louvre -
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Nil,* edited by Michel Baud, pp. 211-17. Paris: Louvre -
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Officina Libraria, 2010.
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Bender Jørgensen, Lise. "Textiles from Mons Claudianus, 'Abu Sha'ar and
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@ -558,12 +589,12 @@ Bowen, Gillian. "Texts and Textiles: a Study of the Textile Industry at
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Ancient Kellis." *The Artefact: The Journal of the Archaeological and
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Anthropological Society of Victoria* 24 (2001): pp. 18-28.
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Choimet[,]{.smallcaps} Gabrielle[.]{.smallcaps} \"Habitat et urbanisme
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Choimet, Gabrielle. \"Habitat et urbanisme
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méroïtiques en Nubie et au Soudan central : état des lieux, actualité et
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carences de la recherche.\" *Routes De l'Orient hors-série* 3 (2018):
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pp. 78-102.
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Choimet[,]{.smallcaps} Gabrielle. ["]{.smallcaps}The Meroitic Settlement
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Choimet, Gabrielle. "The Meroitic Settlement
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at Damboya: Preliminary Results." *Sudan & Nubia* 24 (2020): pp. 190-7.
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Edwards, David N. "Appendix 3. The Meroitic settlement on Tila Island."
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@ -581,23 +612,23 @@ Flohr, Miko. "The Textile Economy of Pompeii." *Journal of Roman
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Archaeology* 26 (2013): pp. 53-78.
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Grzymski, Krzysztof. "The City of Meroe." In *The Oxford Handbook of
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Ancient Nubia*, edited by Geoff Emberling[,]{.smallcaps} and Bruce B.
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Williams, pp. 545-561[.]{.smallcaps} Oxford: Oxford Academic,
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Ancient Nubia*, edited by Geoff Emberling, and Bruce B.
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Williams, pp. 545-561. Oxford: Oxford Academic,
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2021. <https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496272.013.26>, accessed
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3 Sept. 2024.
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Harlow, Mary, and Nosch, Marie-Louise. ["]{.smallcaps}Weaving the
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Harlow, Mary, and Nosch, Marie-Louise. "Weaving the
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Threads: Methodologies in Textile and Dress Research for the Greek and
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Roman world -- the State of the Art and the Case for
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Cross-Disciplinarity." In *Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress, Ancient
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Textiles Series* 19, edited by Mary Harlow and Marie-Louise Nosch[, pp.
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1-33.]{.smallcaps} Oxford: Oxbow books, 2014.
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1-33. Oxford: Oxbow books, 2014.
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Kemp, Barry J., and Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian. *The Ancient Textile
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Industry in Amarna. EES Excavation Memoir* 68. London: Burlington Press,
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2001.
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Maillot[,]{.smallcaps} Marc[. "]{.smallcaps}The Archaeological Site of
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Maillot, Marc. "The Archaeological Site of
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Damboya in the Shendi Reach. First Season." *Sudan & Nubia* 24 (2020):
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pp. 181-9.
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@ -638,9 +669,9 @@ Textile Tools between Levant and Egypt*. Venice: Edizioni Ca\' Foscari,
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Spinazzi-Lucchesi, Chiara, and Elsa Yvanez. "Textile Workshops in the
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Nile Valley? Questioning the Concepts and Sources." In *The Common
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Thread. Collected Essays in Honour of Eva Andersson Strand*, edited by
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Ulla Mannering[,]{.smallcaps} Marie-Louise Nosch[,]{.smallcaps} and Anne
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Drewsen[, pp. 117-32.]{.smallcaps} Turnhout: Brepols,
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[2024.]{.smallcaps}
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Ulla Mannering, Marie-Louise Nosch, and Anne
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Drewsen, pp. 117-32. Turnhout: Brepols,
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2024.
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Thomas, Thelma K. *Textiles from Karanis, Egypt in the Kelsey Museum of
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Archaeology: Artifacts of Everyday Life*. Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum,
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@ -663,18 +694,18 @@ Williams, Bruce B. *Meroitic Remains from Qustul, Cemetery Q, Ballana,
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Cemetery B and a Ballana Settlement, OINE* VIII, vol. 1-2. Chicago: The
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Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1991.
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Wolf[,]{.smallcaps} Pawel,and Ulrike Nowotnick. "Hamadab -- A Meroitic
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Wolf, Pawel,and Ulrike Nowotnick. "Hamadab -- A Meroitic
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Urban Settlement. Excavations 2001-2003." *Archéologie du Nil Moyen* 10
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(2006): pp. 257-72.
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Wolf[,]{.smallcaps} Pawel, and Ulrike Nowotnick. "The Meroitic
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Wolf, Pawel, and Ulrike Nowotnick. "The Meroitic
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Heartland." In *The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia,* edited by Geoff
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Emberling, and Bruce B. Williams, pp. 511-44[.]{.smallcaps}
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Oxford[:]{.smallcaps} Oxford Academic, 2021.
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<https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496272.013.25>, accessed 3
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Sept. 2024.
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Wolf[,]{.smallcaps} Pawel, Ulrike Nowotnick[,]{.smallcaps} and David N.
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Wolf, Pawel, Ulrike Nowotnick, and David N.
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Edwards. \"Settlement in the Meroitic Kingdom\". In *Handbook of Ancient
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Nubia*, edited by Dietrich Raue, pp. 713-82. Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter,
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2019. <https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110420388-031>, accessed 3 Sept.
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@ -714,7 +745,7 @@ Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2019.
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and the present volume for their support.
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[^2]: Baud, "Méroé, un monde urbain"; Wolf and Nowotnick, "The Meroitic
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Heartland"; Grzymski[, "]{.smallcaps}The city of Meroe".
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Heartland"; Grzymski, "The city of Meroe."
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[^3]: Wolf, Nowotnick, and Edwards, \"Settlement in the Meroitic
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Kingdom\".
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@ -812,14 +843,14 @@ Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2019.
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textiles research (see for example "Women's Work", *in*
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Barber[,]{.smallcaps} *Prehistoric Textiles*, pp. 283-98.). For a
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modern scholarly perspective and references, see Harlow and Nosch
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["]{.smallcaps}Weaving the Threads: methodologies in textile and
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dress research", pp. [10-1.]{.smallcaps} If the link with the
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"Weaving the Threads: methodologies in textile and
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dress research", pp. 10-1. If the link with the
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household is clearly established in ancient Sudanese contexts, no
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data pertaining to gender and a gendered differentiation of labor
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has come to light.
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[^26]: Shinnie and Bradley, *The Capital of Kush I*, and Shinnie and
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Anderson[,]{.smallcaps} *The Capital of Kush II.*
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Anderson, *The Capital of Kush II.*
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[^27]: Török, *Meroe City, an ancient African capital*.
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@ -833,9 +864,9 @@ Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2019.
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unknown. Further investigations in the site storage rooms and in the
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Khartoum University collections, as part of the Meroe Archival
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Project, might increase and precise the present list (A. Boozer,
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pers. comm.)
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pers. comm.).
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[^30]: Yvanez, "Spinning in Meroitic Sudan".
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[^30]: Yvanez, "Spinning in Meroitic Sudan."
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[^31]: Focused on test pits and trenches, the methodology followed by
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P.L. Shinnie didn't allow for the excavation of complete building
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@ -852,10 +883,10 @@ Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2019.
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[^35]: Even in much better documented contexts, such as Pompeii,
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relating traces of crafts to a greater economic organization remains
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difficult, see Flohr, "The textile economy of Pompeii".
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difficult, see Flohr, "The textile economy of Pompeii."
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[^36]: Yvanez, "Precious textiles"; "Clothing the elite"; and Yvanez and
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Wozniak, "Cotton in ancient Sudan and Nubia".
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Wozniak, "Cotton in ancient Sudan and Nubia."
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[^37]: Adams, "Sacred Textiles"; Adams and Adams, *Qasr Ibrim, The
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Ballana Phase*, pp. 60-1, 129-37.
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@ -864,16 +895,16 @@ Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 2019.
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valley?".
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[^39]: For a comprehensive view of Meroitic textile technics and
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clothing, see Adams, "Sacred Textiles", Wild[, "]{.smallcaps}Fringes
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and Aprons", Yvanez, "De fil en aiguille : aspects de l'artisanat
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clothing, see Adams, "Sacred Textiles"; Wild, "Fringes
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and Aprons"; Yvanez, "De fil en aiguille : aspects de l'artisanat
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textile méroïtique" and "Clothing the elite? Patterns of Textile
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Production and Consumption".
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Production and Consumption."
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[^40]: [Yvanez]{.smallcaps}, "Spinning in Meroitic Sudan".
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[^40]: Yvanez, "Spinning in Meroitic Sudan."
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[^41]: [Barber]{.smallcaps}, *Women's work*. Textile crafts (especially
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[^41]: Barber, *Women's work*. Textile crafts (especially
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weaving) are frequently associated to mixed activities in domestic
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settings, from contexts and production scales as different as Roman
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Pompeii or Viking Age long houses, see [Flohr]{.smallcaps}, "Working
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and Living Under One Roof" and [Andersson Strand]{.smallcaps},
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"Engendering Central Places".
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Pompeii or Viking Age long houses, see Flohr, "Working
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and Living Under One Roof" and Andersson Strand,
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"Engendering Central Places."
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