ST201902

THINK (^) | HISTORY
Wrap like an
Egyptian: a body is
carefully bandaged
in linens
“Silk’s glamour gave
ostentatious Romans ample
opportunity to show off”
SILK
Immodest apparel
During the late first century
AD, Roman society became
infamous for its excess.
Wealth was f lowing into
Rome from foreign conquests
and interest rates fell from
12% to 4%, meaning that even
ordinary citizens were able
to indulge their tastes for
exot ic goods, such a s silk.
Silk ca me to t he empire
along the Silk Roads (from
China) but we do not know
when precisely it arrived.
Murals at Herculaneum and Pompeii show
elite women wearing translucent fabrics
that look very much like fine, loosely woven
silk. When Julius Caesa r pa id for silk
aw n ing s to be hung t h roughout Rome for a ll
the spectators at his military triumph, it was
seen as a statement of not just his wealth but
his intention to seize power. Silk’s glamour
g ave ostentat ious Roma ns a mple
opportunity for showing off.
There was, naturally enough, a backlash.
According to Pliny the Elder, each year
emperors spent about 100 million sesterces
buying silks from the East, roughly
equivalent to 10% of the annual budget.
Seneca f umed: “Silk is impor ted so t hat our
married women can show as much of their
bodies to people in t he st reet a s t hey display
to their lovers in the bedroom.”
Women wearing silks was bad enough,
but the deepest opprobrium was reserved
for men who did the same. According to
Suetonius, Emperor Caligula liked to appear
in public in bracelet s, silken t un ics,
embroidered cloaks encrusted with jewels.
Conservative Romans were worried that
such luxurious garb would blunt the martial
spirit that had won them their empire and
wealth in the first place. A decree was
passed that forbade men from wearing silk,
one of a raft of measures against unmanly
conspicuous consumption.
“Flavia, what lovely
silks. Shame Top
(Ro)Man has stopped
supplying for men...”
»
LINEN
The linen-wadded heart
Flax (a fibrous crop, the stalks of which are
used to ma ke linen) occupied a specia l place
in ancient Egyptian culture and society. At a
basic level, it was essential to the country’s
economy. It kept its value and could be
exchanged like money in return for other
goods or services. It played a crucial role in
death, too. When the mummy of Senebtisi, a
woman who died around 1800 BCE, was
found in a tomb in a pyramid at Lisht, it was
clear that she had been entombed with care.
The priests had enclosed her entire form in
linen, alternating layers of bandages and
larger sheets. The innermost wrapping, the
one that lay against Senebtisi’s skin, was
pa r t icula rly lu x ur ia nt , w it h a round 50 by 30
threads to the centimetre. Inside her was yet
more cloth: her body cavity was stuffed with
it. Finally, it was found that her heart itself
had been removed, the ventricles and atria
stoppered w it h wads of linen, a nd t hen
carefully replaced.
The wrapping process was secretive and
highly ritualised. A vast quantity of
materials were needed. Those involved
would shave, wash and dress in fresh linen.
The priests who undertook the bandaging
would try to ensure the numbers of layers
and revolutions used were multiples of three
or four, numbers with special significance.
Amulets and other objects were embedded
within the layers of fabric. Sometimes the
wrappings themselves had ritual knowledge
written on them. A Ptolomaic mummy
unwrapped in 1837 in London yielded over
50 metres of carefully inscribed bandages.