Description

This is part of a ritual garment that was worn by a priest during ceremonies. Around the neck, is Arabic art calligraphy woven into the cloth. Below the neckline, the Twelve Apostles are depicted in two rows enclosed in borders. The name of each is written in Arabic above his head. The lower part of the garment is decorated with fringes.
The stole is a part of a ritual garment devoted to Christian denominations, it consists of a strip of cloth usually made of silk.
Since the sixth century CE, religious subjects from the Bible began to appear. The piece dates back to the period following the Arab conquest.

Silk

The Greeks knew of the existence of the silkworm, which eats mulberry leaves and spins itself a cocoon, in which it metamorphoses into a moth. They also knew of the simple process of immersing the cocoons in hot water and unwinding their long silk thread and then joining several together and winding them on a spool. Greek production of silk was never so significant as the importing of silk thread and fabric from the Far East.
It is said that Cleopatra’s silk was all Chinese silk, and we must note that use of silk was limited during the Roman and the Byzantine periods due to its high price.

• Marie-Hélène Rutschowscay, “Textiles”, in The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by Aziz Suryal Atiya, vol. 7 (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1991).
• Mona Serry, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Antiquities Museum, introduction by Ismail Serageldin (Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Antiquities Museum, 2015): 172, 328.