Egyptian Late Antique Textiles: From Archaeological Fields to Museums

Denisa Hradilová

doi:10.31526/SEAS.2025.537

Denisa Hradilová Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic; Department of Humanities, Silesian Museum, Opava; curator of Fine Arts and PhD student, Krnov 79401, Czech Republic

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31526/SEAS.2025.537

Keywords: Silesian Museum, Opava, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Coptic, Late Antique, textiles, Egypt, Akhmīm, Panopolis, Theodor Graf, Franz H. Richter

Abstract

One of the largest groups of archaeological artefacts from archaeological sites in Egypt held in museums in
Central Europe is Late Antique textiles, formerly referred to as “Coptic textiles” since the mid-19th century.
Whole garments, but mainly fragments of former clothes, were cut into small pieces of decorative applications by explorers and archaeologists to sell them at higher prices to private collectors, museum institutions
and educational offices. As with all objects, their complete processing begins with the collection of detailed
information about the textiles. This paper will outline possible approaches and procedures regarding Egyptian textile items in the Silesian Museum in the Czech Republic with a comparison with other European museums.