Editing Linen (section)

=== Early history ===
The discovery of dyed flax fibers in a cave in [[Southern Caucasus]], [[West Asia]] (modern day country, [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) dated to 36,000 years ago suggests that ancient people used wild flax fibers to create linen-like fabrics from an early date.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Balter |first=M. |date=2009 |title=Clothes Make the (Hu) Man |journal=Science |volume=325 |issue=5946 |page=1329 |doi=10.1126/science.325_1329a |pmid=19745126 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kvavadze |first1=E. |last2=Bar-Yosef |first2=O. |last3=Belfer-Cohen |first3=A. |last4=Boaretto |first4=E. |last5=Jakeli |first5=N. |last6=Matskevich |first6=Z. |last7=Meshveliani |first7=T. |date=2009 |title=30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4270521 |journal=Science |volume=325 |issue=5946 |page=1359 |doi=10.1126/science.1175404 |pmid=19745144 |bibcode=2009Sci...325.1359K |s2cid=206520793 }}</ref>

Fragments of straw, seeds, fibers, yarns, and various types of fabrics, including linen samples, dating to about 8,000 BC have been found in Swiss lake dwellings.<ref name="Akin">{{cite journal |last=Akin |first=Danny E. |date=30 December 2012 |title=Linen Most Useful: Perspectives on Structure, Chemistry, and Enzymes for Retting Flax |journal=ISRN Biotechnology |volume=2013 |page=186534 |doi=10.5402/2013/186534 |pmid=25969769 |pmc=4403609 |ref=Akin |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Woven flax textile fragments have been "found between infant and child" in a burial at [[Çatalhöyük]], a large settlement dating to around 7,000 BC.<ref>{{Cite report |title=Çatalhöyük 2013 Archive Report |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/206552281/Archive-Report-2013 |website=Scribd.com }}</ref> To the southeast, in ancient [[Mesopotamia]], flax was domesticated and linen was produced.<ref>{{cite book |last=Potts |first=Daniel T. |title=Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations |date=1997 |publisher=The Athlone Press |isbn=0-485-93001-3 |page=119 }}</ref> It was used mainly by the wealthier class of the society, including priests.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Peter |title=HSC Ancient History |publisher=Pascal Press |year=2006 |isbn=9781741251784 |page=63 }}</ref> The [[Sumerian art|Sumerian]] poem of the courtship of [[Inanna]] mentions flax and linen.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kramer |first=Samuel Noah |date=20 December 1963 |title=Cuneiform Studies and the History of Literature: The Sumerian Sacred Marriage Texts |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=107 |issue=6 |jstor=986108 |pages=504–505 }}</ref>

In [[ancient Egypt]], linen was used for mummification and for burial shrouds. It was also [[Clothing in ancient Egypt|worn as clothing]] on a daily basis; white linen was worn because of the extreme heat.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} For example, the [[Tarkhan dress]], considered to be among the oldest woven garments in the world and dated to between 3482 and 3102 BC, is made of linen.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lobell |first=Jarretta |date=2016 |title=Dressing for the Ages |journal=Archeology |volume=69 |issue=3 |issn=0003-8113 |page=9 }}</ref> [[Plutarch]] wrote that the priests of [[Isis]] also wore linen because of its purity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Plutarch |s2cid=4092286 |editor1-last=Babbitt |editor1-first=Frank Cole |title=Isis and Osiris |journal=Nature |year=1940 |volume=146 |issue=3695 |page=262 |doi=10.1038/146262e0 |bibcode=1940Natur.146U.262. |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris*/A.html |access-date=3 June 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Warden |first=Alex. J. |title=The linen trade, ancient and modern |date=1867 |publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green |page=214 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044019641166 |edition=2nd }}</ref> Linen was sometimes used as a form of currency in ancient Egypt.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} Egyptian [[Mummy|mummies]] were wrapped in linen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth. Some of these fabrics, woven from hand-spun yarns, were very fine for their day, but are coarse compared with modern linen.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Thaddeus Mason |title=The natural history of the Bible; or, A description of all the quadrupeds, birds, fishes [&c.] mentioned in the Sacred scriptures |url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00harriala |access-date=23 October 2012 |date=1824 |page=[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00harriala/page/135 135] }}</ref> When the tomb of the Pharaoh [[Ramses II]], who died in 1213 BC, was discovered in 1881, the linen wrappings were in a state of perfect preservation after more than 3000 years.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} In the [[Ulster Museum]], [[Belfast]] there is the mummy of '[[Takabuti]]' the daughter of a priest of [[Amun]], who died 2,500 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nmni.com/our-museums/ulster-museum/Things-to-see/Takabuti-the-ancient-Egyptian-mummy.aspx |title=Takabuti the ancient Egyptian mummy |website=NMNI.com |publisher=Ulster Museum, Egyptian Gallery }}</ref> The linen on this mummy is also in a perfect state of preservation.

[[File:Prices edict grades.jpg|thumb|[[Diocletian]]'s 4th century maximum prices edict showing prices for 3 grades of linen across the [[Roman Empire]]]]

The earliest written documentation of a linen industry comes from the [[Linear B]] tablets of [[Pylos]], [[Greece]], where linen is depicted as an [[ideogram]] and also written as "li-no" ([[Greek language|Greek]]: λίνον, ''linon''), and the female linen workers are cataloged as "li-ne-ya" (λίνεια, ''lineia'').<ref>[http://www3.lu.se/klass/textiles/throughsociety.html#rouge Flax and Linen Textiles in the Mycenaean palatial economy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411124925/http://www3.lu.se/klass/textiles/throughsociety.html |date=2008-04-11 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Robkin |first=A.L.H. |date=1 January 1979 |jstor=504148 |title=The Agricultural Year, the Commodity SA and the Linen Industry of Mycenaean Pylos |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=469–474 |doi=10.2307/504148 }}</ref>

[[File:Ancient Coptic material.jpg|thumb|upright|Ancient [[Copts|Coptic]] material]]