Late Antique Textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library

Die Papyrussammlung in Wien ist die größte Sammlung dieser Art in der Welt. In der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek werden ca. 180 000 Papyri aufbewahrt, die in den Sprachen Griechisch, Ägyptisch, Koptisch, Arabisch, Hebräisch, Lateinisch, Demotisch und Pahlevi beschrieben sind und aus der Zeit vom 2. Jahrtausend vor Christus bis zum 15. Jahrhundert nach Christus stammen. Die Sammeltätigkeit geht auf Erzherzog Rainer, den Neffen des Kaisers Franz Josef I, zurück. In der Reihe MPER werden Monographien publiziert, in denen die Bestände der Papyrussammlung durch Interpretationen oder Kontextualisierungen erschlossen werden.

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MPER XXXIV, 2 presents knowledge of textile dyeing in Late Antique Egypt (ca. 300–800 CE) based on interdisciplinary research on 30 Late Antique textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library, combining scientific analyses with the study of ancient and scholarly literature. The general part deals with the dyeing materials and techniques that were available in Late Antique Egypt to create a wide variety of colours. The catalogue part contains the scientific analyses of 85 samples of 30 Late Antique textiles from this collection. The results of dye, fibre and mordant analyses are documented with UHPLC chromatograms, UV/VIS absorption spectra, SEM-EDX spectra, microscopic images and tables. Textiles in which specific dyeing materials have been identified are listed in the appendices including textiles from the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library as well as archaeological textiles from numerous international projects. A detailed bibliography completes this volume. MPER XXXIV, 1 – the first comprehensive compilation of Late Antique textiles from the Papyrus collection of the Austrian Library – provides an overall study of these 30 textiles and 208 more including iconography and the analyses of the weaving techniques.