Egypt’s Woven Heritage: Stories of Culture and Identity Told Through Traditional Textiles
By Kenzy Fahmy
The history of Egypt’s textile production is as rich and diverse as the history of the country itself, and this should come as no surprise considering the enduring connection between textiles and cultural identity. If you’ve ever visited the Egyptian Museum, you’ve probably seen the ancient Egyptian linen robes and embroidered tapestries, delicate and frayed, but miraculously preserved; beautiful examples of the importance textiles have held in Egyptian culture since its earliest communities began to appear.
Since the very beginning, our designs have been inspired by our surroundings and daily life, by nature, and by our values. They are a reflection of our identity and a record of our stories. From the linen used by the ancient Egyptians to send their dead into the afterlife, to the intricate tapestries produced by the Coptic and Islamic communities that tell stories of conquests, miracles and saints, our heritage is stored within these threads, woven together by skilled hands and preserved for generations to come.
But our heritage is under threat, and these special skills are being lost to an increasingly globalized and fast-paced world. Hand-weaving and hand-embroidery are both incredibly costly and labor-intensive, and their cultural significance is fast disappearing within communities that, understandably, want to be part of our modern world. But the importance of preserving these ancient forms of art is not lost on us, and there are a growing number of organizations that are working hard to keep them alive.
The Wissa Wassef Tapestries
The Wissa Wassef Art Center in Harrania was founded in the 50s by its namesake, Egyptian Architect Ramses Wissa Wassef, as a way to teach children in the area the art of hand-weaving, something Wassef believed was worth preserving. It was also a way to prove that creativity was innate, that all people needed was the freedom and encouragement to express themselves freely. The designs that came out of the studio were unique and deeply connected to Egyptian culture, each telling its own story, all reflections of village life told through the hands of the weavers. In fact, the workshops were so successful and so highly valued that the Wissa Wassef tapestries have been featured in exhibitions all over Europe, the US and the Middle East since 1954 up until today. Not only have they managed to provide education and opportunity for some of Egypt’s underprivileged communities, but they’ve succeeded in reviving a vital part of our heritage, allowing for these skills to be passed down.
Siwa’s Symbolic Embroidery
Like most traditional art forms, Siwi embroidery is extremely rich in symbolism and meaning, with each piece of the pattern representing a different aspect of life in the oasis. The colours, red, orange, green, black and yellow, represent the sun, sand and the all-important date palms and olive trees. Mother-of-pearl buttons were sown on to reflect the light and protect the wearer from evil, and the stunning sunburst pattern that extends outward from the chest, a nod to the Siwis’ enduring connection to ancient Egyptian culture.
The patterned embroidery of Siwa is perhaps some of the most iconic and easily recognized, both in Egypt and abroad, and the instantly recognizable colours and motifs can now be found on all kinds of contemporary textiles, from t-shirts and dresses to pillows and other accessories. You’ll even find the traditional Siwi patterns being used by designers abroad. But new roads and easier access to the isolated oasis has meant that many of their traditions are becoming diluted by modern development and an ever growing tourism industry.
The Weavers of Akhmim
Lying just south of Sohag in Upper Egypt, Akhmim is a small, relatively isolated town known for its textile production since ancient times; the industry here is one of the oldest in the world. Up until the 1950s, Akhmim was difficult to reach and was more or less cut off from the wave of modernization that hit Egypt in the early 1900s, which meant they were able to preserve their traditions and a way of life that had been unchanged for hundreds of years, if not more. The weavers of the small Upper Egyptian village have inherited both their skill and their wooden looms from the ancient Egyptians, passing the art of hand-weaving down from one generation to another. The designs, many of which are similar to those produced by the artisans at Wissa Wassef, incorporate patterns and elements from everyday life in rural Egypt; these textiles play a vital role in preserving a disappearing culture. The town still holds weekly markets where local producers sell galabeyas, shawls, and other textiles used by Egyptians living in the surrounding countryside.
Assiuti Telli
The ‘tulle bi telli’ fabrics of Assiut have been around for a long time, and the practice of weaving metal into cloth is an ancient one, but it was the wave of Egyptomania that hit Europe in the 1920s that made the traditional design internationally recognizable, leaving an enduring mark on the fashion industry. Using a special two-eyed needle, the women weave a special flat metal thread through the tiny holes of the delicate tulle fabric, cutting and clamping each individual stitch by hand to create impressive geometric designs that make the fabric appear like it’s been dipped in silver. These days, most telli fabrics come out of Sohag, another Upper Egyptian town known for its textile production, and in an attempt to save time and money, the fabrics have, over time, become far less delicate and intricate; artisans now opt for simpler designs and cheaper, more durable tulle.
Sinai Stitches
Similar to the traditional embroidery of Siwa, the Bedouin women of Sinai have an old and incredibly rich heritage of hand-embroidered textiles that are an expression of and tribute to the natural world around them, as well as a symbol of their identity. You’ll find beautifully intricate abstract depictions of the flora and fauna that make up Sinai’s landscape embroidered onto black galabeyas using red, pink, orange, green and blue thread, with variations that reflect their social status and the tribe they belong to. The Jabalaya tribe for example, who live in the mountains and valleys of South Sinai, are one of the only tribes to use non-geometric patterns for their designs, although they still use the natural world around them as inspiration. In many tribes, the pattern and colour a woman wears is used as a way to identify her marital status, with married women wearing dresses embroidered mostly in red, while women who are older or widowed wear dresses decorated with blue embroidery. But these traditions are also very quickly disappearing in the face of an invasive tourism industry and rapid modernization, and we find more and more Bedouin women choosing to forgo the time-consuming process of hand-embroidering their clothes. Now, most of the textiles that come out of Sinai are created specifically to be sold to tourists, no longer carrying with them the deep, personal and cultural connection they once held.