byzantine midterm

hellenistic era/culture

323-31 bce / the greek dynasty controls egypt and introduces hellenistic culture and art styles to the area. ptolemy and his descendants (including cleopatra) rule over egypt after alexander the great dies. hellenistic style favored naturalism and focused on painting, architecture, and sculpture, and it was integrated into pharaonic styles native to egypt.

ptolemaic era

305-31 bce / ptolemy takes over egypt after alexander the great dies with no heir. ptolemy and his descendants rule over egupt as the ptolemies with their capital in alexandria. during this area, hellenist culture, naturalistic art, and paideia were prevalent which affected the cultural, educational, and artistic atmosphere in egypt.

battle of actium

31 bce / augustus defeats antony and cleopatra (the last ptolemaics) and begin roman rule over egypt. with the end of the ptolemaic era, there is a merge of roman and hellenistic egyptian cultures. among other artifacts, an obelisk is brought from rome to cairo as spolia in a material show of conquest.

roman imperial era

27 bce-c3/4 ce / the roman empire becomes focused on expansion and cultural development. economic and governmental hardship led the empire to be split into the east and west in 286 ce. the temple of dendur shows the bridge between roman and egyptian cultures by depicting the first roman emperor, augustusj in a pharaonic art style and praying to egyptian deities.

jesus is born

1 ce / it takes a lot of time for jesus to become widely accepted as the son of god, and his followers are persecuted in the roman empire until 313 ce. jesus is thought of as the good shepherd, which connects him with lambs and wool. this contrasts the pharaonic notion of wool as impure, and bishops wore wool stoles to identify them as shepherds of christians.

early christian era

ca 30-early c4 ce / paganist values are still the most prevalent throughout the empire, and christianity is illegal until 313 with the edict of milan. christians are treated as scapegoats for political instability because they can only worship one god and can’t worship the emperor. christian imagery begins to work its way into iconography and combines with that of paganism to create fused programs.

establishment of the patriarchy of alexandria

ca 42 ce / though christianity is sitll illegal, the patriarch leads the minority group of christians in alexandria. christianity becomes more organized, which leads to the introduction of christian iconography into visual, artistic programs.

emperor diocletian establishes the tetrarchy

293 ce / a few decades after the roman empire splits into east and west, the tetrarchy creates a system of four co-emperors. this consisted of two heads and two subordinates who would inherit the former’s place. the four tetrarchs state depicts them embracing each other in a show of unity, and the durable material shows perseverance.

early byzantine period

ca 330-ca 726 ce / this period begins with constantinople becoming the capital of the roman empire, which was a result of the fall of western rome and the prominence of constantinople as a place of wealth and productivity. it ends with the start of iconoclasm by leo iii. during this period, there was much trade of silks and other materials between different empires.

diocletian issues the price edict

301 ce / this edict fixed the price of textiles and other goods. this included raw and finished fabrics, dyes, and more, especially luxury goods. because of this, there was a major shortage of textiles, and it was difficult to find them at the legal prices. the regulation was ultimately unsuccessful and resulted in black market trade and further economic instability.

emperors constantine i and licinius enact the edict of milan

313 ce / this decriminalizes christianity across the roman empire, but paganism is still prominent. as a result, pagan and christian imagery are both integral in iconographic programs. many textiles have ambiguous imagery that can be read as either creed.

constantine founds “constantinople” at the site of the hellenistic city byzantion/byzantium

330 ce / this begun the early byzantine period and established constantinople as the new capital of the empire or the new rome. constantinople became the capital because of its connection to culture and art. it was a major site of production throughout the period and was integral in textile trade between empires.

theodosios i declares edict of orthodoxy

380 ce / christianity becomes the official religion of the roman empire. roman art highlights the connection between emperor and god, depicting them as the same in mosaics. because they are expensive, purple textiles are associated with the emperor and, as a result, with godliness.

theodosios i divides the roman-byzantine empire into eastern and western halves

395 ce / while the roman empire was already thought of as east and west after the establishment of the tetrarchy, this made a permanent, official divide. this led to the collapse of the western half because constantinople/the east had a stronger culture and economic status. trade was very important, especially with textiles that moved across nations, and constantinople was generally the western end of silk routes.

rome falls

476 ce / the west falls but the eastern empire remains strong due to its cultural and economic strengths. hieronymus wolf coined the term byzantium to refer to this area/period in the 16th century, but the eastern empire referred to themselves as roman. material culture in byzantine included textiles, architecture, and more that combined multiple cultural styles from widespread roman territories.

coptic

this refers to an ethnic identity and language of byzantine egyptians. it is often used negatively to exclude egyptian art from the corpus of byzantine art by thinking of it as a separate genre. for example, the portrait of tetrarchs may be thought of as less byzantine because it aligns with non-hellenistic/realistic coptic styles.

alexandria

this was the nexus of the nile, mediterranean, and red sea. as a result, it was a major hub for artistic production and trade. its connection to waterways allowed for extensive trade to happen along these routes.

rome

this was the first capital of the roman empire, and it fell in 476 ce. it served as a major hub for culture and activity until the expansion of the empire brought instability that led to its collapse. material and cultural production shifted to constantinople, where arts flourished in multiple styles.

oxyrhynchus

a repository of papyri was discovered here. this was important because these papers detailed what everyday life was like, which gives a broader understanding than information solely from large cities like alexandria. additionally, it included receipts of textile production which demonstrate smaller-scale manufacturing.

karanis

the university of michigan excavated this site as one of the first archaeology missions. it was a small-scale town, so the finds were important to understanding small-town life and what textile manufacturing looked like provincially.

berenike

this was mentioned in the periplus of the erythraean sea in the discussion of textiles from india. it was a port city along the red sea and its proximity to water made it a trading hub.

coptos

this was a trading hub because it was near water. it was located on the nile and was a stopping point for goods that were moving from the red sea to the mediterranean.

periplus of the erythraean sea

this work detailed trade from roman egypt/northeast africa to india. it mapped out the land around the indian ocean and discussed what was exported from india. from the northwest came fabrics and indigo, and from the southwest came spices and ivory.

cosmas indicopleustes

he was an explorer and merchant that traveled to india, which gave him his last name. his works demonstrate globalism and the trade that occured between the roman empire and eastern empires. a notable work of his was the christian topography which uess indian concepts to outline his idea of the christian tabernacle.

the christian topography

this was written by cosmas and its reproductions include the tabernacle diagram that shows his idea of what the christian world looks like. it describes his travels for trade and conveys globalism in that the mountatin in his tabernacle is an indian concept.

temple of dendur

augustus commissioned this temple. in it, he is depicted in the pharaonic style and he is praying to egyptian deities. this conveys globalism in that the roman emperor is appropriating the cultures of areas he controls.

barberini ivory

the bottom panel depicts “primitive” people knelt in submission to the frontal emperor. they have animals and resources that represent those which byzantines now have control of because they’ve conquered/established trade with other empires. it depicts ivory as one of these goods, and it is also made out of it, which exhibits this domination.

center/periphery

metropolitan areas are considered center. such areas would include constantinople, alexandria, and rome before it fell, which all are major cultural, imperial, and artistic hubs for production. provincial areas are considered periphery. they include karanis and coptos, which are smaller towns that still manufacture items, but on a smaller scale.

metropolitan/provincial

center areas are metropolitan, like constantinople and alexandria, which are major cultural, imperial, and artistic hubs for production. periphery areas are provincial. they include karanis and coptos, which are smaller towns that still manufacture items, but on a smaller scale.

allochronic

in the study of the roman empire, this is the perception of africa as of a primitive time. such a view depicts africa as underdeveloped when comparing the same time frame to europe, which it depicts as appropriately advanced for the time. in contrast, african empires were often creating and using similar technologies as european ones at the same time or ahead of them. 

eurocentric

eurocentrism centers european culture, history, and art and paints it as superior to other non-european empires. additionally, it sets european work as the standard and any other developments as abnormal or primitive. the use of “coptic” to describe byzantine egyptian art is eurocentric because it separates egypt from byzantium in an effort to separate africa from europe, even though they were undeniably connected at the time.

papyrus

this is paper made from a plant of the nile valley. uncovered papyri has textual evidence of textile production and receipts of trade. this gives insight into textile standards and economics.

ostracon

this is clay shards from broken pots. it was written on like scrap paper, and uncovered ostraca has textual evidence of textile production and receipts of trade. this gives insight into textile standards and economics.

linen

this is created from flax and is often bleached rather than dyed. it has especially long fibers, and it was considered to be pure by pharaonic egyptians because it came from the earth, unlike carnal wool.  it is often used as the ground for egyptian tunics.

wool

this comes with natural lanolin and muck that needs to be removed in order to process it. the process includes washing, combing, and more. wool fibers are short in comparison to linen, but they lock together because of their ridges. it is easy to dye, and it was often used for colorful ornamental designs on tunics and other textiles.

silk

this often came from china, which held a monopoly on the silkworm. it was traded over the silk road through persia and india. silk is lustrous and expensive, which made it coveted for royal garb.

cotton

this has short fibers and was often imported from india. lower-quality cotton was grown in northeast africa, but it was mostly imported over trade routes/the red sea and uncommon in the roman empire.

mordant

these are metallic salts that bind dye and fabric. some mordants used in egypt were alum and iron. iron mordants darken the dye, and are corrosive while alum, which was more common, retained the original color and is light/washfast.

murex

this is a sea mollusk that produces a highly regulated dye. it was expensive and the purple color became a sign of exclusivity. as a result, purple was associated with royalty, and the association of king and god meant purple was also important to christianity.

kermes

this is a red dye from dried insects. it produces a bright red color that was coveted. it was more expensive than madder which had a brownish tinge.

indigo

this created a blue dye. it was the most common source of blue in byzantine textiles and was imported over land from india.

madder

this created a red/pink/brown dye. it produced a less bright red than kermes but was very popular and economical in comparison. it comes from the root of the madder plant.

alum

this mordant was the most commonly used in egypt. it doesn’t alter the color of the dye and isn’t corrosive. the resulting colors are light and wash resistant and vibrant.

carding/combing

this is a step of processing wool. the fibers are combed in order to clean and straighten them. this step precedes the actual spinning. toy combs were discovered in archaeological sites and demonstrate that children often mimicked textile production practices in play.

spindle/spinning

spinning used a spindle, such as a drop spindle, to turn fiber into workable yarn. spinning was a social practice, and this is known because of visual depictions of social spinning. to use a drop spindle, the fiber is attached to the top hook and held, then spun, then the spinner draws back their finger along the fiber to release the twist and spin the fiber.

loom (dual and single beam)

looms are used to weave yarn into fabric. a single-beam loom creates simple weaves, while dual-beam looms have two warp beams for complex weaves, silks, and pile loop fabrics. single-beam egyptian looms used loom weights.

shuttle

this hold the weft thread inside of itself and acts as a needle that weaves the weft yarn across the loom.

heddle

this moves some of the warp threads up and down to create a shed. this makes it easier to pass the shuttle across the warp and speeds up the process of weaving.

shed

this is the area that the shuttle/weft yarn passes through. it is more easily created by a heddle, which lifts up certain warp threads to create a shed, but it can also be navigated by hand by weaving the shuttle in and out of certain warps.

selvedge

this is where the weft turns at the sides of the fabric. it creates a finished side that won’t unravel or fray. the selvedge can be difficult to identify, because a piece of fabric may be sewn to create what appears to be a selvedge but is actually a sewn edge done post-weave.

ground

this is the basic fabric structure of a weave. it may be a plain weave, twill, or other method. this is the structural basis and supplemental elements are added to the ground.

inwoven

inwoven designs are part of the ground and are structurally important. unlike supplemental structures, removing an inwoven design would compromise the weave itself. jacquard weaves are an example of an inwoven design (though this was invented post-roman empire).

plain/tabby weave

this weave is made in the same color. it often forms the linen basis of egyptian tunics. it can be weft-faced, regular, etc.

tapestry weave (discontinuous weft-faced weave)

this has different colors that are connected by some sort of join (dovetail, interlocking, slit). it is discontinuous because there are separate color fields connected by floats on the reverse side. the weft is packed to hide the warp.

slit join

this is created by weft yarns that turn around at adjacent warp yarns. when done in long, vertical strips, it creates a large opening in between the two yarns. sometimes, they are sewn closed.

dovetail join

this is created by weft yarns that alternate around a single warp. it can be done in single or multiple passes.

interlocking join

this is created by weft yarns that interconnect in a single or double pass between a single warp. they are nearly invisible if they are single, but form a ridge if they are double.e

eccentric weft

this is a tapestry technique where the weft moves at diagonal, erratic angles. it creates curved lines/motifs and the tension is variable.

twining

this is a woven element made by interlacing two wefts. it creates a braid-like pattern and can stabilize an unfinished edge.

self band

this is created by weaving stripes/bands in the same color/fiber as the rest of the textile. it creates texture and dimension.

loop pile

this is where the weft has excess loops that protrude from the textile’s surface. it is used for insulation and texture. when cut, it can create velvet.

lancé

this is similar to tapestry weave, but it is supplemental. it is done with a shuttle and formed on top of the plain tabby ground.

flying shuttle

this is a supplemental weave that wouldn’t compromise the weave if it was removed. it may resemble embroidery, but it is done alongside the rest of the weaving on the loom. this was often done in linen in byzantine textiles in contrast to a dyed wool ground.

float

this is where the warp or weft floats across the surface for a length. it can be intentional or the result of colorwork in order to bridge two separate areas of the same color. in a 2×2 twill, there are integral two-unit floats.