I for one had never thought that the ancient Egyptians knitted ......
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| Romano-Egyptian Knitted Socks |
..... I had assumed that they grew cotton and wore cotton clothing, especially since the climate is a little hot for woolly jumpers.
But it appears from the British Museum that not only were they knitters but also skilled wool dyers. Ancient socks have been known about for years, with examples found from the stone age (with animal skins and pelts used), but apparently it wasn't until the late Roman period Egyptians that knitted examples were found.
They were found in a rubbish dump in ancient Antinoupolis in Roman Egypt, and dating from AD 300 (before the Arab invasion of the 7th century). The latest scientific and non invasive inspections have shown what dyes were used – madder (red), woad (blue) and weld (yellow) – but also that in the late antiquity period, knitters used double and sequential dying and weaving, and twisting of fibres to create a myriad colours.
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| Moses Should Have Worn Socks |
The socks also had an inventive design with one compartment for the big toe, and another for the remaining four toes to accommodate their use with toe sandals. This news kind of puts a dent on all those Toga and Sandals movies, where absolutely no one wore socks ...... apparently Moses and the Israelites should have been wearing socks.
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