Needing a New Outfit?
Looking to add to your wardrobe? Be glad you live now instead of a few thousand years ago. Imagine not being able to walk into a department store or boutique and sort through racks of ready-to-wear. Clothing requires fabric, and fabric is made from fiber. The choice a few centuries back might be plant fiber from flax or cotton, or hair from animals such as sheep, goats, or occasionally camels. Before the industrial revolution, these fibers had to be processed by hand and spun into twine or thread, then woven or knitted into a length of fabric. Okay, NOW you’re ready to start making your clothing, by hand of course. Or maybe you'd weave a length of fabric and think of imaginative ways to wrap the fabric over and around your body. Garments were precious possessions, often counted among the spoils of war.
Wool takes dyes much easier than linen, which is made from flax. Nowadays we think of wool as a winter fabric. However, if it’s spun very fine a skillful weaver can create a lightweight fabric that is comfortable in warm climates. Probably tropical weight wool is the closest modern equivalent.
How about some color? The ancients used whatever they could find to create dyes, including plant, animal, and mineral substances. Blue was probably the most popular color because it’s the easiest dye to create from the natural ingredients they had handy. Purple has become known as a “royal” color since it was expensive to make. Originally, purple came from mollusks found in/around the Mediterranean Sea.
Scholars think Hebrew women of antiquity dressed more colorfully than their men. Poor people such as shepherds tended to have shorter garments—less fabric required. Wealthy folk had more elaborately adorned clothing. Hems seem to have been the focus of embroidered embellishment. The Bible mentions a garment suitable for the king’s virgin daughter to wear, but does not go into detail. Perhaps we can conclude from that quote that clothing could indicate gender, marital status, and social rank. Too bad they didn’t have cell phone cameras to leave us some pictures!
In the final analysis, we don’t really know. An educated guess is still a guess. The only people who knew for certain how the ancients lived have been in their graves for centuries. So we our imaginations to write and read books, such as "Daughter of the King".
Carlene Havel,
Author of "A Hero's Homecoming" co-author “Daughter of the King”
http://goo.gl/s6EQS
Wool takes dyes much easier than linen, which is made from flax. Nowadays we think of wool as a winter fabric. However, if it’s spun very fine a skillful weaver can create a lightweight fabric that is comfortable in warm climates. Probably tropical weight wool is the closest modern equivalent.
How about some color? The ancients used whatever they could find to create dyes, including plant, animal, and mineral substances. Blue was probably the most popular color because it’s the easiest dye to create from the natural ingredients they had handy. Purple has become known as a “royal” color since it was expensive to make. Originally, purple came from mollusks found in/around the Mediterranean Sea.
Scholars think Hebrew women of antiquity dressed more colorfully than their men. Poor people such as shepherds tended to have shorter garments—less fabric required. Wealthy folk had more elaborately adorned clothing. Hems seem to have been the focus of embroidered embellishment. The Bible mentions a garment suitable for the king’s virgin daughter to wear, but does not go into detail. Perhaps we can conclude from that quote that clothing could indicate gender, marital status, and social rank. Too bad they didn’t have cell phone cameras to leave us some pictures!
In the final analysis, we don’t really know. An educated guess is still a guess. The only people who knew for certain how the ancients lived have been in their graves for centuries. So we our imaginations to write and read books, such as "Daughter of the King".
Carlene Havel,
Author of "A Hero's Homecoming" co-author “Daughter of the King”
http://goo.gl/s6EQS
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