Coptic textile fragment: 
Egypt, Lower Delta, 5th century CE.
Image: courtesy of the University of
Melbourne Art Collection.
David and Marion Adams Collection.

Papyrus fragments discovered at Oxyrhynchus, a site in Upper Egypt, include the first book of Thucydides and other texts as well as private accounts, receipts and personal letters. An extraordinary declaration concerns the sale of an eight-year-old slave girl without blemish apart from epilepsy and leprosy.

The papyrus texts and the Coptic textiles that once belonged to elaborately adorned items of clothing worn in the time of Christian Egypt, during the fourth to seventh centuries, will be on display at the Potter until April.

The ancient texts were donated to the University of Melbourne in 1901 and 1922 by the Egyptian Exploration Society, London UK.

Some of the Coptic textiles were donated to the University in 2006 by artist Yvonne Audette, who purchased them from a bazaar outside the Cairo Museum in the 1950s.

Other significant textiles, including an almost complete shawl, form part of the David and Marion Adams Collection donated in 2009.

Exhibition curator Dr Andrew Jamieson says, “These donated works make important contributions to the antiquities collection at the University of Melbourne, benefiting generations of students to come.

“David Adams’ and Yvonne Audette’s decisions to bequeath their treasures to the University are outstanding gestures of generosity,” he said.

Over the past century a large collection of papyrus texts dating from the time of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history were found around Oxyrhynchus.

Textiles rarely survive in the archaeological record given their organic nature, however, the hot and dry climate of Egypt preserved many pieces of ancient cloth.

During the Coptic period the dead were often buried fully clothed in the dry sands of Upper Egypt, thus preserving everyday garments rather than explicit burial garments. Some textiles even show evidence of mending and patching.

On show are parts of garments such as woollen tunics, tunic ornaments, panels, shawls and shrouds.

Coptic textiles are notable for the richness of their decorative motifs: geometric patterns, human figures, birds, animals, fish, flora, mythological themes, Nilotic and marine scenes, episodes from the Old and New Testaments, and crosses. “The works featured in the exhibition offer a dramatic view into the lives of the owners and makers of these garments and texts through the fragile pages of papyrus and delicate woven textiles,” Dr Jamieson said.