Coptic Textiles

The production of Coptic textiles began in Egypt in the third and fourth centuries AD. These beautiful textiles were hand-woven with unbleached linen warps and dyed wool wefts, and preserved by grace of the hot and arid desert climate. Some Coptic textiles were discovered as early as the seventeenth century, and others during Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt. Nineteenth and early-twentieth-century excavations contributed to the textile collections of European museums. The most common Coptic garment was the tunic, and almost all Coptic textiles discovered were part of a tunic.