Coiled Basketry Through Time in Ancient Egypt – Materials
The first step in creating a basket is locating and gathering the materials needed. There are three materials that are commonly used for basketry production in ancient Egypt: doam palm leaves, date palm leaves, and grasses (Wendrich, 2000; 155). All other materials, while they do occur, occur rarely.
The doam palm, Hyphaene thebaica (Manniche, 2006; 114) possesses fan-shaped leaves that could have been used as brooms without much production effort on the part of the artisan (Wendrich, 199; 146). In ancient Egypt, the doam palm would have been generally available through most of Egypt, though at present, it is relegated to Upper Egypt (Wendrich, 1999; 146). There is textual evidence, however, that the doam palm could have been imported, though from where is not clear, and probably for the purpose of basket making (Wendrich, 1999; 276-277).
The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, actually produces a number of materials used in basketry besides the leaves (Manniche, 2006; 141-2). The leaves can be harvested whenever they are needed, but only a few of the young, supple leaves can be taken, as taking too many can kill the tree (Wendrich, 1999; 278). The brittle, rough, old leaves were used for coarser baskets and pierced baskets (Wendrich, 1999; 279). The long, curved stems that carried the date fruits were also used, often in the bundled cores of coiled basketry. These curved stems are still commonly used today (Wendrich, 1999; 279). Some of these materials acquired from the date palm required no preparation, such as the mid-ribs of the leaves and leaf-sheath fibers (Wendrich, 1999; 281). Minor preparations were needed for other date palm materials. The leaflets were removed from the mid-rib by hand then allowed to dry. The middle vein of the leaflets were removed sometime either during this drying stage or just before production (Wendrich, 1999; 281). The veins were not discarded, but set aside for later use as thread or string (Wendrich, 1999; 296). The fruit stems were dried then beaten to expose the tough inner fibers. This beating was usually done during the production of the basket, adding the fibers to the core of the basket as it was being shaped (Wendrich, 1999; 281). Though the date palm is common throughout Egypt, both in modern and ancient times, the evidence of its use in basketry is often scarce (Wendrich, 1999; 282).
Halfa grass or Desmostrachya bipinnata grows to nearly one meter in height and favors the edges of rivers, canals and their sandy surroundings. It produces both leaves and culms, or the hollow flower-bearing stems, both of which are used in the making of basketry (Wendrich, 1999; 147). Another type of halfa grass is the Imperata cylindrical. This type of halfa grass, however, is not as common as the Desmostrachya, and is thus not seen as often as a material used in basketry (Wendrich, 1999; 148). The leaves of grass are available at any time of the year, though the best blades are the young blades that grow before the grass flowers (Wendrich, 1999; 283). Grass takes little time to prepare, merely three to five days to dry, after which they can be dyed, if that is desirable, and dried again. Dry grasses are easily stored, and these dry stalks are wetted before use (Wendrich, 1999; 283).
Water-based plants were often used in basketry, including reeds, sedges and rushes. Two types of reeds are present in Egypt: Common reed, or Phragmites australis, and Giant reed, or Arundo donax. Both are tall, sometimes reaching a height of five to six meters, and are used for such things as arrows, writing pens, roofs and furniture. These plants are native to water-rich areas, and thus the Delta is where they are most likely to be found (Wendrich, 1999; 149). Sedges were used mainly in the manufacture of coiled basketry and rope, but are overall rare in basketry. They appear in marshes, mostly, growing upwards of five meters in height (Wendrich, 1999; 150). These water plants from the Cyperus species include Cyperus papyrus, or the traditional papyrus plant, and Cyperus rotundus (Wendrich, 1999; 151). Due to their watery environment, sedges are found most often in the Delta region (Wendrich, 1999; 285).
Rushes are smooth and grow only about one meter in height. There are two species of rush in Egypt, the Junicaceae rigidus and the Junicaceae acutus distinguished only by their color (Wendrich, 1999; 151).
While not used in the construction of whole baskets, leather was often used beginning in the New Kingdom as a base for coiled basketry and in the lashings around the rims of such baskets that had a leather base (Wendrich, 1999; 304). It is likely this use of leather began only in the New Kingdom, as the practice of slaughtering was done in such an unhygienic fashion previous to that era (Wendrich, 2000; 300). Depictions of Amarna slaughterhouses show the neatly organized hides laid out to dry, indicating leather was a consumer product by this time (Wendrich, 2000; 301). There are a number of methods used to tan leather, but which method was used in the case of the leather bases and lashings is not specified.
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