Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt

Textiles were ubiquitous in the elite Egyptian cultural sphere—from clothing, furniture coverings, and wall decorations to grave goods and temple offerings. The Egyptian world was draped in cloth, yet the producers were often marginalized members of society—immigrants, war captives, and women, who p...

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Main Author: Jordan Galczynski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Arts
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/13/6/171
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author Jordan Galczynski
author_facet Jordan Galczynski
author_sort Jordan Galczynski
collection DOAJ
description Textiles were ubiquitous in the elite Egyptian cultural sphere—from clothing, furniture coverings, and wall decorations to grave goods and temple offerings. The Egyptian world was draped in cloth, yet the producers were often marginalized members of society—immigrants, war captives, and women, who produced for a select few to whom they did not often belong. This paper aims to use textiles as a medium to investigate how the New Kingdom textile industry maintained social inequalities and power differentials. This paper highlights the efforts of marginalized labor in the production of textiles in New Kingdom Egypt, utilizing an intersectional approach to understand the interactions of the producers, varying levels of management, and elite consumers. Textiles were a high-value resource and one of the only goods that increased in value with labor, unlike other crafted goods, like metals, for example. I posit that this was inherently linked to the marginalization of the labor involved. The fabrics woven were a display of the Egyptian hegemony and reaffirmed the social order between the elites and the rest of society.
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spelling doaj-art-2ad0f73cd0ee4f11bdccacb8110183e72025-08-20T02:00:51ZengMDPI AGArts2076-07522024-11-0113617110.3390/arts13060171Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom EgyptJordan Galczynski0Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USATextiles were ubiquitous in the elite Egyptian cultural sphere—from clothing, furniture coverings, and wall decorations to grave goods and temple offerings. The Egyptian world was draped in cloth, yet the producers were often marginalized members of society—immigrants, war captives, and women, who produced for a select few to whom they did not often belong. This paper aims to use textiles as a medium to investigate how the New Kingdom textile industry maintained social inequalities and power differentials. This paper highlights the efforts of marginalized labor in the production of textiles in New Kingdom Egypt, utilizing an intersectional approach to understand the interactions of the producers, varying levels of management, and elite consumers. Textiles were a high-value resource and one of the only goods that increased in value with labor, unlike other crafted goods, like metals, for example. I posit that this was inherently linked to the marginalization of the labor involved. The fabrics woven were a display of the Egyptian hegemony and reaffirmed the social order between the elites and the rest of society.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/13/6/171textilesdresssocial inequalitylaborsubalternity
spellingShingle Jordan Galczynski
Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
Arts
textiles
dress
social inequality
labor
subalternity
title Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
title_full Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
title_fullStr Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
title_full_unstemmed Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
title_short Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
title_sort marginalized textile producers in new kingdom egypt
topic textiles
dress
social inequality
labor
subalternity
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/13/6/171
work_keys_str_mv AT jordangalczynski marginalizedtextileproducersinnewkingdomegypt