Agriculture
The flax plant (Linum usitatissimum L.), meaning “of greatest use”, is one of the most culturally and economically significant plants in the Middle East and Europe. It is considered the oldest cultivated fiber plant with evidence of its domestication and use dating back to ancient Mesopotamians in the Fertile Crescent. However, the plant was not produced in large quantities until flax cultivation spread to Egypt in around 5000 BC, where it became the most used raw material for textile production in the everyday life of ancient Egyptians.
Flax is an annual plant that rises on a single stalk to a height of twenty to forty inches, depending on the quality of the soil, climate, and other circumstances. Ancient Egyptians seeded flax in fields along the Nile River in mid-November following the floods to use the rich soil they left behind, while harvesting occurs in March–April. To harvest the crop, Egyptians would pull the plant by the root rather than the stalks. This method was likely used to acquire the longest fibers possible and preserve their maximum length.
Below is a selection of surviving objects related to flax and its cultivation process that document its symbolic and economic importance in the daily lives, as well as afterlives, of ancient Egyptians.
Sennedjem and Iineferti in the Fields of Iaru
New Kingdom, ca. 1295–1213 B.C.The east wall of Sennedjem's vaulted crypt is adorned with a vignette that illustrates spell number 110 in the Book of the Dead. Known by the Egyptians during this time as the ‘chapters for coming forth by day,’ the Book of the Dead is the modern name for compositions drawn in ancient Egyptian manuscripts for elite burials. It comprises about 175 individual 'chapters' for securing eternal life. Here, in a facsimile painted in the tomb, Sennedjem and his wife, Iineferti, are shown harvesting grain, sowing seeds, and pulling flax in the abundant fields of the afterlife.
Painted at Deir el Medina by Charles K. Wilkinson for the Egyptian Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1922. Brought to New York and accessioned, 1930. (30.4.2)
Bibliography
Wilkinson, C.K. (1922) Charles K. Wilkinson: Sennedjem and Iineferti in the fields of IARU: Twentieth Century; original New Kingdom, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548354 (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Dreyfus, R. (2022) Sennedjem and the Egyptians who built the Royal Tombs, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco . Available at: https://www.famsf.org/stories/sennedjem-and-egyptians-who-built-royal-tombs (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Depiction of harvest of flax in the Book of the Dead, from a linen mummy bandage
Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 BCHere, a flax harvesting scene is suitably depicted on a mummy bandage made of linen. According to a range of depictions, ancient Egyptian flax appears to have grown about waist high. Therefore, in a scene such as this one that illustrates the plant around the same height as the Egyptian harvesting the flax, could imply the height of the plant may have been exaggerated for the religious context.
Preserved in Petrie Museum, London. (UC 32434)
Bibliography
Granger-Taylor, H. (2003) Textile production and clothing, Digital Egypt for Universities. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//textil/plant2.html (Accessed: 26 November 2024).
Soliman, D., et al., 2023. 'Spinning and Weaving as Ancient Egyptian Inherited Crafts', Pharos International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality, 2(1), pp. 18-32. DOI: 10.21608/pijth.2023.287373.
Removing the seeds from the flax by a comb-like device
Paheri tomb (TT. 139), West wall of the main chamber, Eighteenth Dynasty, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna.In a facsimile of Paheri’s tomb, the rippling process of the flax plant is shown. After the crop had dried out, this process was done with a coarse comb-like wooden tool known as a flax-stripper. This would allow the hard outer fibres of the flax stalks to break apart and separate the seed capsules, from which oil is made.
© Ahnas El Medineh: The Tomb of Paheri at El Kab (Tylor, J. and Griffith, J. 1894: Pl.III).
de Garis Davies, N., 1913. Five Theban Tombs. London. Available at: https://ia800706.us.archive.org/0/items/archaeologicals21egyp/archaeologicals21egyp.pdf (Accessed: December 2024).
Soliman, D., et al., 2023. 'Spinning and Weaving as Ancient Egyptian Inherited Crafts', Pharos International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality, 2(1), pp. 18-32. DOI: 10.21608/pijth.2023.287373.
Bat for beating flax
Probably late Middle KingdomAfter the flax stems have been retted in water to remove the hard outer bark from the plant, they are beaten with a wooden fan or bat, such as the one shown here. This technique would allow the fibres to separate from the wooden parts of the stem. After this tool was used, the flax stems were then scraped over a sharp tool to completely remove the woody remains and prepare the flexible fibres to be spun into a thread.
Found in Ellahun, Preserved in Petrie Museum, London. (UC 63458)
Bibliography
Shiode, N., Quirke, S. and Grajetzki, W., 2000. Digital Egypt for Universities. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//Welcome.html (Accessed: December 2024).
Soliman, D., et al., 2023. 'Spinning and Weaving as Ancient Egyptian Inherited Crafts', Pharos International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality, 2(1), pp. 18-32. DOI: 10.21608/pijth.2023.287373.
A woman scutching the flax fibres by passing it through two sticks
Middle Kingdom, Tomb of Daga (TT.103), East side of the sixth entrance, Eleventh Dynasty, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna.To ensure that there weren’t any twigs remaining from the wooden parts of the flax stem after beating, the flax fibres were passed between two sticks held in one’s hand. This technique, known as scutching or hackling, can be seen in a facsimile of the tomb of Daga.
© Five Theban Tombs (de Garis Davies, N. 1913: Pl. XXXVII).
Bibliography
de Garis Davies, N., 1913. Five Theban Tombs. London. Available at: https://ia800706.us.archive.org/0/items/archaeologicals21egyp/archaeologicals21egyp.pdf (Accessed: December 2024).
Soliman, D., et al., 2023. 'Spinning and Weaving as Ancient Egyptian Inherited Crafts', Pharos International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality, 2(1), pp. 18-32. DOI: 10.21608/pijth.2023.287373.
A hank of flax strips
Late Middle Kingdom, about 1800 BCThese hanks of flax represent the initial stage of yarn preparation, which stated by the Petrie Museum has been very rarely preserved in the archaeological record. Presumably, the flax strips shown here are made up of the fibres considered the best of the batch after the scutching process had been completed and were laid together to form a loose thread to prepare for the spinning process.
Found in Lahun, Preserved in Petrie Museum, London. (UC 7509)
Bibliography
Shiode, N., Quirke, S. and Grajetzki, W. (2000) Digital Egypt for Universities. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//Welcome.html (Accessed: December 2024).
Harvest scenes from Tomb of Menna
New Kingdom, ca. 1400-1352 BCThis depiction of harvesting scenes in the 14th century BC was painted in the early-twentieth century from a scene in the Tomb of Menna in Qurna. The scene above shows men, women and children involved in cutting the flax at a certain height, reflecting the extent to which production required effort from whole communities. In the bottom scene, flax is being combed as part of the heckling process and prepared for transportation.
Painted at Qurna by Charles K. Wilkinson for the Egyptian Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, date unknown. (30.4.44).
Bibliography
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.) A Pair of Shabtis of Neskhonsu. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548574 (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Wilkinson, C.K. (1979) 'Harvest Scenes, Tomb of Menna', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 36(4), pp. 42–43.
Linen bag, knotted with flax, containing flax seeds
Middle Kingdom, 12th dynastyA linen bag containing flax seeds and tied with flax. The object demonstrates the circularity in the linen production process, made from linen and yarn constructed from flax and containing seeds to begin the process anew. Longer seed lengths from this period as compared with earlier artefacts reflect the long-term effects of domestication on the flax product.
Preserved in Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London. (LDUCE-UC38867).
Bibliography
Barber, E.J.W. (1991) Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology (n.d.) Linen bag, knotted with flax, containing flax seeds. Middle Kingdom, 12th dynasty. Linen, flax, and seed, 7.3 x 10.9 cm. Available at: https://collections.ucl.ac.uk/Details/collect/252 (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Wooden Hoe
Middle Kingdom, ca. 2055-1733 BC.A wooden hoe with a leaf-shaped blade attached to a curved handle, found near Gebel-el-Silsila in northern Upper Egypt. Using land irrigated from the Nile, the softened earth was broken up with hoes ahead of sewing flax seeds. Its simple construction offers some indication to the hard manual labour involved in flax production and the scale of manpower required for mass production of the crop.
Preserved in National Museums Liverpool. (1973.1.540).
Bibliography
Liverpool Museums (n.d.) Hoe. Available at: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/hoe (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Sickle insert
Early Dynastic Period, ca. 3100-2650 BCA small piece of flint sharpened into a serrated blade for use in a wooden sickle. Secured into a wooden shaft with adhesive, the flint was used to grain stalks and would have required recutting as the blade dulled. This blade reflects the use of rudimentary materials such as flint in the early production of flax in Egypt. It would not be until the first millennium BC that metals such as copper alloys would become widely used in harvesting.
Collected by Albert M. Lythgoe in the area of Deir el-Ballas. Donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Lythgoe, 1917. (17.6.48)
Bibliography
Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.) Sickle insert. Early Dynastic Period, ca. 3100–2650 BC. Flint, 6.3 x 1.3 x 0.6 cm. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557953 (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Wengrow, D. (2006) The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North-East Africa, 10,000 to 2,650 BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Account of flax cultivation
Middle Kingdom, ca. 1956-53 BCThis account of flax cultivation on behalf of one Heqanakht records what is sewn, what the yield is, and what is stored with respect to flax. There are recordings also of sacks of grain and flax being owed to various people. The record is made over a previous piece of writing that has been largely removed but is still visible, concerning the two slave-girls bringing copper. The papyrus shows how flax cultivation was an industry requiring significant documentation and administration.
Acquired by Mr. and Mrs. George Beeman, England, in Luxor, 1922 or 1923, and given to Mrs. W. Kate Purches, in 1958. Bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Mrs. W. Kate Purches in 2018, after it was on loan and on display since 2001. (2018.595.1).
Bibliography
Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.) Account of flax cultivation. Middle Kingdom, ca. 1956–53 BC. Papyrus, 28.1 x 9.1 cm. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551043 (Accessed: 25 November 2024).
Midant-Reynes, B. (2000) The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Pharaohs. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Shaw, I. (ed.) (2003) The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.