Most families in the Bronze and Iron Age wove
their own cloth and made their own clothing. Like
breadmaking,
this was an activity that figured prominently in
the daily lives of women. In antiquity, the
southern Levant was famous for the weaving of
luxurious patterned and colored textiles.
For average households, weaving was a means
of producing simple everyday garments.
Excavators
at Tell es- Sa'idiyeh discovered burned wooden
frames of looms and rows of clay loom weights in
many houses. These looms were "warp-weighted": the
threads on the long axis of the weave (the warp)
were suspended vertically with weights. The passing
of thread (the weft) horizontally in and out of the
warp created the weave.
The principal fibers used for weaving were
sheep wool, goat hair, and flax&endash;a fibrous
plant used to make linen. Before it could be formed
into a thread, wool had to be washed, picked clean
and combed straight. Then the fibers were spun to
entwine them and draw them into a long, even
strand. Usually a spindle, a weighted stick
suspended in the air and spun on the thigh, was
used (the use of the spindle is represented through
a model in the exhibit). The spun fibers were then
stretched upon the loom to weave into
garments.
Weaving was time consuming, but the tasks
allowed for socializing, and could be taken up and
put down as needed. Therefore, weaving activities
could be matched to the rhythm of the
house.
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