Egyptian

This salmon red silk textile fragment has probably faded over the last 900 years. Three bands of darkened metallic thread form stem-like patterns in red, green, and black silk. The wide central pattern mimics lettering, hovering between text and decoration. This Egyptian textile’s script is difficult to decipher, but its date might imply that Arabic is the intended language. It was created at the height of the Fatimid Empire (909–1171 CE), a time of war and exchange with bordering Byzantine and Coptic empires. Tiraz with pseudo-Arabic inscriptions, like this one, were as actively traded, as were legible examples given as gifts by rulers.