| Summary: | <p>This thesis focuses on the Egyptian textile industry during the transition from Byzantine to Islamic rule (6th-11th centuries), in an effort to trace the changes that occurred. The innovative elements are, on one hand, the attempt to combine information from the primary written sources, both Greek and Arabic, and the material evidence, namely the textiles themselves, and, on the other hand the attempt to connect any changes with their social, political and economic background. The textiles of the Benaki Museum in Athens, which have been very little studied until now, form the core of this study, and are here related to the broader context of already published Late Antique and Early Islamic Egyptian textiles, both those collected and those scientifically excavated, in order to provide a solid basis for investigation, as representative as possible of the textile production in the transitional period.</p>
<p>During this period, most aspects of material culture, including monumental and domestic architecture, the arts of the book, epigraphy, numismatics, decorated ceramics, glass, metalwork, and stone- and wood-carving were transformed by the introduction of new techniques, forms and iconography from the lands newly conquered by Islam. At the same time, traditional Egyptian material culture, patronised by Christian elites and especially by the Coptic church since the fourth century, continued, and both influenced, and was influenced by, the emergent material culture of Islamic Egypt. By the tenth century, most aspects of material culture had developed a distinctly Egyptian character that can be clearly distinguished not just from that of the rest of the Islamic world, but also from that of Egypt before the Arab conquest.</p>
<p>In the first two centuries after the conquest, many materials, techniques and designs seem to have remained unchanged, and the same community continued to supply craftsmen, but, at the same time, significant innovations were set in motion, including the more extensive use of eastern designs and techniques, promoted by the Muslim elites, newly arrived from the east. In the 9th and 10th centuries, decisive changes, which always came hand in hand with social, economic, political and religious shifts, gradually transformed the industry and its products. The formation of an Egyptian ruling class, together with the increasing tendency towards political and financial independence of the country, promoted large investment of state officials and private enterpreneurs in the local textile industry, which resulted in the “industrialisation” of production and, therefore, in greater division of labour, and in the reformation of the country’s agricultural policy, towards massive flax cultivation and large scale import of silk. Also, the gradual conversion of the Egyptian population to Islam and the prevalence of Arabic culture impelled the growing impact of Islamic art also on textiles, with a transformation of the iconography into abstract, repetitive and highly decorative designs, some directly inspired from Islamic palatial art, as well as an increasing popularity of inscribed textiles and of ṭirāz pieces, valued and mimicked by both Muslims and Christians.</p>
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