Ten Thousand Years of Wearing Linen
by Shahinda Abdalla
Just as popular as cotton is today, linen had been in the ancient world. In fact until the invention of the cotton gin in the 1700s, linen was the most popular fabric across the globe. There is recent evidence found in pre-historic caves in Georgia that suggest linen might’ve been used as a textile 36,000 years ago. But the oldest preserved linen garments come from Egypt approximately 10,000 years ago during the Neolithic era. Because of Egypt’s extremely dry climate, the linen found in tombs amongst the belongings of the deceased and with which mummies were generously wrapped is so well-preserved. Linen was considered to be the miracle fiber of ancient Egypt. Thanks to the Nile River’s annual floods that left the soil rich and fertile, the Egyptians were able to grow the flax plant from which linen is made. Linen production was quite the labor-intensive process requiring the smoking of the flax, beating it to separate the fibers, twisting loose fibers together, spinning them into thread, and then finally weaving the threads together into cloth. Despite this long and arduous process of making linen, it was well worth it in the end because linen was strong and got even stronger when wet which meant that it lasted and endured, it was quick to dry and cool on the skin, which made it particularly attractive to the ancient Egyptians as it was a fabric particularly well-suited to Egypt’s climate and temperature. These reasons are believed to be why linen remained the central fiber in Egyptian life long after wool had become widely used by other cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East around 2000 BC. Moreover wool was seen as impure as it came from animals and was never to be worn in sacred rituals or temples. Wool was worn only by the very rich and wealthy over garments as overcoats, but it was a topic of taboo.
One of the downsides of linen was that it didn’t take dye very well so most Egyptian linen kept its natural shade or was bleached white. Sometimes they would harvest green flax which was then used to make green linen, though this was much rarer and seen as a status symbol as the color was strongest when new. Because Egypt back then was much more humid than the desert land of today, that meant that little clothing was needed. The poor wore coarse linen loincloths and slaves often wore nothing at all. The rich displayed their wealth by wearing more clothing which often consisted of wrap-around garments.
Modern-day linen is made in much the same way as it was back in ancient Egypt. The first step of making a linen textile is threshing which involves removing the seeds. Then comes the process of removing the actual fibre from inside the flax plant stalk. To do so, the plant is exposed to varying amounts of water in order to break down the cells inside the plant, allowing for long, unbroken fibers to be collected. After the retting fibers are allowed to dry, any remaining wood from the stem is removed, and the fibers are combed in order to separate the short and long fibers. The shorter fibers are normally coarser and less valuable while the longer fibers tend to be better quality and end up making smoother and softer fabric.
Linen was used for much more than just clothing. It was used as currency, furnishings, decorations and most famously as the burial garment for mummies. Linen was an integral part of Egyptian life, and death. It was much more than a fabric. Ancient Egyptians revered linen. It is what their bodies were wrapped in throughout their lives, and accompanied them too on their journey through death. To the Egyptians, it symbolized purity and light, and was therefore called “woven moonlight”. Today we know that linen in fact decays much slower than other fibers which made it perfect for mummification. The reason for this slow decay is the high pectin content found in the flax plant which becomes glue-like when mixed with water.
Today, linen fibers are not as widely produced in Egypt. In fact, most linen comes from Western Europe. The primary center for linen production is Ireland. The Phoenicians are the ones who brought linen to Ireland before the beginning of the Common Era but it wasn’t until the twelfth century CE that an established system for linen production was developed. In 1711, the Board of Trustees of Linen Manufacturers of Ireland was founded and Ireland became a center for fine luxury linen production earning Belfast the name “Linenopolis.”