ABSTRACT
Silk has been discovered in Israel from sites dating to the Byzantine period, such as Nessana and ‘Avdat, and to the early Islamic period, at Nahal ‘Omer and ‘En Marzev; at the latter site a late seventh- to ninth-century textile was found, decorated with silk threads wrapped with silver strips. Medieval silk textiles were found at Caesarea, Wadi Murabba‘at, and the Coral Island in the Gulf of Aqaba. Small remains of textiles were discovered in a Christian grave under the pavement of the crusader cathedral in Caesarea. The burial was in a wooden coffin with iron nails. The small textile fragments were of several layers, one on top of the other, in a very poor condition – partly carbonated and very fragile. Nine linen textiles are decorated with coloured silk tapestry bands of brown, beige, gold, red, green, black, blue, and yellow.
