A fragement of a band of woven silk on linen. Egyptian, Manshiya, Fatimid, ca. AD1000-1200. Tiraz. The band (85mm wide) is made from woven silk and is very colourful - blue, black, red, yellow and green. The band has a large middle section of geometric motis resembling intertwined ropes with circular motifs between ropes and along their edge. Above and below this main band is a smaller band of evenly spaced squares containing one repeating black and white motif on a yellow background. This is then edged in a thick blue line then a single red line of running stitch. The linen is glazed and approx. 16x20 tpc. One corner has dark staining. Maybe the end of a scarf or girdle.
In the Abbasid period (AD750-1258) fabrics, called tiraz, were made in present day Iraq and Egypt. Text from the Koran was embroidered across the fabric with a line of geometric shapes above that were probably for decoration. The word came to mean honorific robes with woven or embroidered inscriptions. Text might also include information such as the name of the reigning caliph, place of production and date.