Late Antique Textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library: Scientific Investigation of Fibres, Dyes and Dyeing Techniques

The knowledge of textile dyeing in Late Antique Egypt (ca. 300-800 CE) presented in this volume is based on interdisciplinary research. Aim is to connect research of ancient written sources and dye and fibre analyses of archaeological textiles.

The volume (MPER XXXIV.2) is a supplement to the catalogue of Late Antique textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library (MPER XXXIV.1). It contains a general part which gives an overview of textile dyeing in Late Antique Egypt and neighbouring countries and a 'catalogue part' in which dye and fibre analyses of textiles from the Papyrus Collection are published for the first time.

The general part deals with the vegetable and animal dyeing materials and techniques that were available to the dyers in Late Antique Egypt to create a great variety of colours. The 'catalogue part' contains the results of the scientific analyses carried out on 83 samples of 30 Late Antique textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library. The results of dye, fibre and element analyses are documented with UHPLC chromatograms, UV/VIS absorption spectra, SEM-EDX spectra, microscopic images and tables.