At 08:33 PM 5/22/2006, you wrote:
On Monday 22 May 2006 5:32 pm, Kathy Bone wrote:
> Does anyone here have information on the type of material and weave that
> was used during the ministry of Christ? I am particularly interested in
> finding out more about the robe of Jesus that is mentioned in John 19:23.
> I know one type article of clothing worn then was a khiton. However, this
> was Roman garb and I don't know if a Jewish peasant would have wore the
> same thing.
However, I read recently in a book on the Hogom find that late in antiquity
(like the 4th c CE, say) cloaks in general were woven to size (usually, a
specifically sized rectangle) throughout what had been the Empire, and were
not cut to shape. It seems likely that that was the practice in Roman areas
in early times as well, since Roman and Greek clothing was not shaped to the
body and thus did not have to be cut if it was woven properly to size. When
Jesus lived, Palestine was a Roman subject state, and probably used a similar
weaving technology. Even if the Jewish subjects used different weaving
techniques, Roman-style cloaks were probably easy to find in all price
ranges.
I also know that throughout what we now often call the Middle East (such as
Egypt) horizontal looms fastened to the ground were typically used for
weaving, and they could make cloth of practically any width since all you
needed was a few more inches of ground.
I'd suggest that you look for a good book on the history of looms and weaving
to start with. Good luck.
--
Cathy Raymond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
May I suggest that you look for "Prehistoric Textiles: The
development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, with special
reference to the Aegean", by Elizabeth J. W. Barber, or her other
book titled "Women's Work: the first 20,000 years". The first is
very scholarly and goes into great detail, but ends about the time
that written records are predominant. The second book is more for
the non-scholar. I have, and have repeatedly read, both of them.
The Romans and Greeks used the warp-weighted loom for their
weaving. The ground loom was prevalent in the dryer climates of
Egypt and Mesopotamia. By Roman times, the looms types were no
longer so limited in their distribution, though the warp-weighted
loom continued in use in Europe into the Middle Ages, and longer in
some more peripheral areas (like in Scandinavia).
Unfortunately, the climate in Palestine as well as Europe is not very
conducive to the survival of fabric over the centuries, unless it's a
very special set of circumstances, so we have few remains to work from.
Joan Jurancich
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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