Coptic. <em>Tunic with Mythological Motifs</em>, 7th century C.E. Wool, as mounted: 2 × 53 1/2 × 101 in. (5.1 × 135.9 × 256.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 41.523. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.523_PS2.jpg)

Coptic. Tunic with Mythological Motifs, 7th century C.E. Wool, as mounted: 2 × 53 1/2 × 101 in. (5.1 × 135.9 × 256.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 41.523. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.523_PS2.jpg)

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I'm wondering about this Egyptian tunic. Why is it so big? Is it supposed to be purely decorative? Is it supposed to be very, very loose? Or was it intended for somebody very obese? This isn't the first time I've seen a giant tunic in a museum and I've always wondered.

Great question! I was also surprised by the tunic's size. This one is especially large. The bottom fringe is actually weighted, so the tunic doesn't fly up in the wind!

The abundance was fabric would have been a status symbol. Also, this was an outer garment, designed to be worn over other layers.

Huh, interesting! Thank you!

The tunic with mythological motifs looks too wide to be worn, was it actually for use or something else?

That's something that many visitors have noticed. It's not clear why this tunic is so large but it was probably belted in some fashion and the fringe at the edge would have serve to weigh down the edges, in addition to being decorative!

Thank you!

I'm curious how the Egyptian tunic survived on such good condition.

The naturally dry climate in Egypt combined with the darkness of tombs created the perfect preservation conditions for a lot of fragile and organic material.

Sunlight and moisture are the two major contributors to deterioration of textiles. Without those, you'd be surprised how long something can last!

Very cool, thank you!

Why is this so wide?

We're not actually sure, but scholars think that this garment may be so wide as a sign of wealth; it would have been expensive to use that much fabric! Of course, you would want it to be relatively large. This style of tunic was an outer garment meant to be worn over other clothes.

Did you notice the fringe at the bottom? We believe this served to help weigh down the billowing tunic.

Who was this garment made for?

The size, construction, decoration, and quality of the garment suggest this tunic was made for a relatively wealthy Egyptian man living during the rule of the Byzantine Empire over the region.

Our Fayum portraits (like the portrait of a noblewoman nearby) show people wearing similar garments.

Was the abundance of a certain fabric a common indicator of wealth in that era?

This tunic is made of wool which was pretty common. It's the unusual amount of the fabric and the intricately woven bands that lead scholars to interpret this garment as belonging to someone particularly wealthy.

Given that the sleeves are quite narrow, it does not seem that this garment wasn't intended for a larger person.

What’s this?

This is what is called a tunic. It is a piece of clothing that you would wear like a shirt, that was popular in ancient Egypt when it was ruled by the Romans. If you look closely at the blue bands of decoration you might see images of people, animals, columns, or even sea nymphs!

It says this tunic has mythological motifs. Are the myths contemporaneous with the piece or much older?

The mythological creatures definitely have origins hundreds, or even thousands, of years before this tunic was created, but they still would have been a part of popular culture at the time. By the 5th to 7th centuries CE, Egypt was part of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire and largely Christian. The motifs found here--like sea nymphs known as nereids--have roots in Greco-Roman mythology that were folded into early Christian culture.

The notes on this tunic with mythological motifs says woad was the early blue dye in Egypt. Do you know when it came to the region?

I am not sure when the Egyptians started using woad/indigo. There is evidence of indigo dye on textiles found in Egyptian tombs dating as early as the Old Kingdom period which began around 2500 BCE. Most Egyptian textiles from earlier times do not survive. You may have noticed that the date on this tunic is quite late compared to ancient Egypt.

Wow that so long ago, thanks!

Dime más.

La túnica que me enviaste es una forma de ropa que era muy común en Egipto cuando fue parte del Imperio Bizantino.

Las bandas azules de decoración cuentan con imágenes estilizadas de personas, animales, columnas e incluso ninfas del mar.

Hubiera sido llevado por una persona rico, probablemente un hombre dado al tamaño.

Tunic with Mythological Motifs

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Ancient Egyptian weavers decorated linen and wool with indigo-blue dye as early as 2000 B.C.E. But the actual source of indigo color in Egypt remains uncertain.

The plant that produces true indigo dye, Indigofera tinctoria, is not known to have grown in Egypt, but was imported through trade routes by the Greco-Roman period (323 B.C.E.–395 C.E.).

The woad plant, which produced a slightly less concentrated indigo color, was likely the earliest source of blue dye in Egypt.

CULTURE Coptic

MEDIUM Wool

DATES 7th century C.E.

PERIOD Late Antique Period

DIMENSIONS as mounted: 2 × 53 1/2 × 101 in. (5.1 × 135.9 × 256.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 41.523

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

EXHIBITIONS

Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Coptic. Tunic with Mythological Motifs, 7th century C.E. Wool, as mounted: 2 × 53 1/2 × 101 in. (5.1 × 135.9 × 256.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 41.523. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.523_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 41.523_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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