The commodity sector of fine fabrics that were used to adorn the churches also found a conspicuous endowment of articles in the Arab markets. Certainly it is unthinkable that the ecclesiastical authorities turned directly to the Saracen merchants for the negotiation of "
sacred" merchandise: it is to be believed in a central role of a "Christian" port such as Salerno or in a mediation of the always active Amalfi merchants , although it is precisely between the 11th and 12th centuries, as we shall see, that the first certain presences of Salerno merchants are recorded in the city of Fustat (Cairo). The silk drapes used for decorative purposes, which in the southern Italian sources are often referred to as "
Arab curtain" or "
African silk cercitoria", often recur in the documents of the Codex Cavense in the form of "
African silk cloths" and "
Sindones´siriache or African ". In the field of textile products, the Arabs were distinguished by a large production of raw silk, which was then hardly worked entirely by the Arabs; rather it was sold in Constantinople, where it then went on to make finished products. In the end, a vicious circle was created among Muslim suppliers, Byzantine manufacturers. western traders and clergy.