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A 6,000-Year-Old Nobleman

The Linen Shroud
 

 

The shroud, 7 meters long and 2 meters wide, is made from a single sheet of cloth. It was woven from linen yarn in the tabby weave, a basic weaving technique. The edges are decorated with bands incorporating brown and black threads. To produce a sheet of cloth of this size, an exceptionally large loom and a team of at least three weavers would have been necessary. The complete cloth was folded twice, forming a four-layer wrapping inside which the nobleman's body was placed. A row of small holes discernable in each of the layers suggests that the layers were sewn together at one edge. Originally the natural color of linen, the cloth is now heavily stained - by ocher and putrefaction liquids.


Edge of the shroud (detail)

 




 
 
 
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