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4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID159
TM ID-
Findspot (DEChriM ID)15   (al-Baǧawāt)
ClassFunerary element, Garment/adornment/accessories
MaterialWool, Linen
Description

Remnants of a head covering with four cruces ansatae.

Dimensions: L. 44 7/8 in. (114 cm) 

Selection criteriaChristian symbols/gestures/isopsephy, Archaeological context associated with Christian markers
Date from301
Date to400
Dating criteria

Archaeological context; weaving technique (Kajitani 2006: 98). The totality of the funerary material coming from the chapel Fakhry no. 211 
– which seems to belong to one single primary burial – is datable to the 4th c. The 70 or so glass vases embedded in the dome of the funerary chamber are equally dated to the 4th c., probably to the period 300-370 (Nenna 2010: 204).

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Funerary chapel, Tomb XCVIII (= Fakhry no. 211). Same context as artefact 161 and artefact 163. According to Kajitani 2006: 98, the textiles associated with this chapel were found inside a sarcophagus. However, the excavators' notes mention in the funerary pit of this chapel only a wooden sarcophagus, which was empty (https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16028coll10/id/507/rec/12).

Accession number

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 33.10.46

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fakhry, A. 1951. The Necropolis of El-Bagawat in Kharga Oasis, in the Egyptian Deserts. Cairo: Government Press.

Kajitani, N. 2006. “Textiles and Their Context in the Third to Fourth-Century CE Cemetery of al-Bagawat, Khargah Oasis, Egypt, From 1907-1931, Excavations by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.” In Textiles in Situ: Their Find Spot in Egypt and Neighbouring Countries in the Frist Millennium CE, edited by S. Screnk, 95-112. Tielt: Lannoo.

• Nenna, M.-D. 2010. “The glass vessel decor of a funerary chapel in the Bagawat Necropolis, Kharga Oasis, Egypt.” In Glass in Byzantium – Production, Usage, Analyses. International Workshop organised by the Byzantine Archaeology Mainz, 17th-18th of January 2008 Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, edited by J. Drauschke and D. Keller, 204. Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums.

Authors
Victor Ghica, Rhiannon Williams, 2021, 2023
Suggested citation
Victor Ghica, Rhiannon Williams, 2021, 2023, "Artefact ID 159", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/159
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