Berenike (Egypt)

The ancient site of Berenike, Egypt. The ancient site of Berenike, Egypt.

Berenike is the name of an ancient Egyptian port on the coast of the Red Sea, some 260 km east of Aswan. The port dates from the time of Ptolemy II (285-246 BC) and was particularly active from the first century BC until the second centuries AD, when it was one of the main shipping centres in the trade between the Mediterranean, Arabia and India. By the seventh century AD, Berenike had been abandoned because of poor economic conditions.

The first major archaeological excavations at Berenike started in 1994 and were led by a team from the University of Delaware, headed by Steven Sidebotham. The Delaware team continued until 2001, at which point the work was continued by teams from the University of Delaware and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw.

Although numerous textiles were reported from the Roman period at Berenike, only one small fragment of embroidery (Berenike 0043) has been identified, during the 1995 excavations at the site. The textile was given a fourth century AD date. The embroidery consists of a piece of woollen cloth that had brown/purple yarns in one system (warp or weft) and dark blue/green yarns in the other (warp or weft). It was cut into a rectangular shape prior to being sewn. The design consists of a row of running interlocked scrolls framing a series of latticework triangles. The scrolls were worked in chain stitch, while the triangles were in couching using yellow wool yarn.

Sources:

  • SIDEBOTHAM, Steven E. and Willemina Z. WENDRICH (eds., 1996). Berenike 1995: Preliminary Report of the 1995 Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) and the Survey of the Eastern Desert, Leiden: Research School CNWS.
  • WILD, John Peter and Felicity WILD (1996). 'The textiles,' in: Steve E. Sidebotham and Willeke Z. Wendrich (eds.), Berenike 1995: Preliminary Report of the 1995 Excavations at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) and the Survey of the Eastern Desert, Leiden: Research School CNWS, pp. 245-256.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 3 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Tuesday, 18 April 2017 13:16