Textiles

The dry and arid conditions at Palmyra have preserved fragments of textiles, mainly in funerary contexts. From these fragments, we can tell that the clothing on the funerary portraits and other sculptures of Palmyra reflect actual garments and styles from the city. The textiles from the site were both local and imported, reflecting Palmyra’s location along major trade routes such as the silk road. Clothes reflect a variety of styles, including Roman, Parthian, and local, and influences from China were also present due to the importation of silk.

A wide range of textiles were excavated at the nearby site of Dura Europus, including linen, wool, cotton, and silk – these provide a useful counter point to Palmyra, because most are from daily-life contexts. Thus, the fabrics from Palmyra – whether represented on sculpture or left in funerary contexts as offerings, can be understood as high-quality luxury goods, used display of the wealth of different individuals. Even ordinary textiles could be enhanced with the use of Tyrian purple dye or gold as decoration on the garment.

The textiles from Palmyra display various types of patterns. In addition to the use of purple dye, a high quality and expensive dye made from mollusk shells most commonly from Tyre, some fabrics were decorated with elaborate floral and vegetal patterns or with geometric motifs. Sculptors of Palmyrene portraits replicated these patterns in their works and may have worked from the same reference books as textile producers. Specific patterns were not confined to only one type of fabric, as some locally made textiles show adaptations of patterns from Chinese silk. Silk thread was also used to embroider local fabric by Palmyrene women, decorating their headdresses and tunics. As with other sites, the production of textiles was a gendered industry, as seen by the funerary sculptures of women with weaving implements. The women of Palmyra played a large role in producing, dying, and embroidering the textiles of the city.

The surviving textiles from Palmyra, a form of evidence that is not often preserved, offers a look into the cross-cultural connections of the city and the role of women in production and trade.