Linen fabric, ancient

Caulking of the ark with pitch is described in Genesis 6.14. Linen fabric, at least 7000 years old has been unearthed near Robenshausen, Switzerland. Wool fabric was used in Mesopotamia as early as 4000 B.C., cotton was woven by the ancient Eg5rptians and Sericulture was practiced in China as early as 2500 B.C. 

Some of the earliest known apphcations of fibers date back to the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian civilizations. Papyrus was formed from the fibers of the papyrus reed. Linen fabrics were woven from flax fibers. Cotton fibers were used to make sail fiibric. Ancient China produced the first paper from cellulose fiber and perfected the use of silk fiber. 

The cultivation of flaxseed reaches back to the remotest periods of history. Both the seeds as well as the cloth woven from this plant fabric have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. In fact, the first linen mentioned in the Bible has been proven by historians and archaeologists to have been spun from flax. Later on, Hippocrates stated that flaxseed was used for the relief of abdominal pains in some of his writings. For 8000 years flaxseed has been used as a source for sustaining energy. 

Indeed, materials in a fibrous form have been used by mankind for a long time. Fiber yams have been used for making fabrics, ropes, and cords, and for many other uses since prehistoric times, long before scientists had any idea of the internal structure of these materials. Weaving of cloth has been an important part of most ancient societies. The term fabric is frequently employed as a metaphor for society. One talks of the social fabric or moral fiber of a society, etc. It is interesting to note that an archeological excavation of a 9000-year-old site in Thrkey led to the discovery of a piece of fabric, a piece of linen, woven from the fibers of a flax plant (New York Times, 1993). Normally, archeologists date an era by the pottery of that era. It would appear from this discovery that even before the pottery, there were textile fabrics. There is also recorded use of sutures as stitches... 

Seed fibres from cotton and stem fibres from flax were probably the first to be commonly woven into textiles. Linen (from flax) was the every-day fabric of ancient Egypt, and the plant was the first cultivated source of textile fibres in Europe. While cotton only became popular in Europe a few centuries ago, its... 

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