In the National Museum of Beirut, 8 mummies are displayed together with outstanding clothing they wore to the grave. These people – adults and kids, the youngest is only 4 months old – were dressed in beautiful embroidered dresses when buried. And the garments are so well-preserved that you could even determine the needlework patterns on them and recreate the dresses if you wanted. That’s amazing how much this clothing is similar to modern folk costumes and traditional embroidered dresses.
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These mummies are called “the Maronite mummies”. They were found in Lebanon in 1990. The scientists dated them back to around 1283 A.D., so they’re over 700 years old.
The bodies of these people were dressed in lovely embroidered dresses when buried. Some even had glass-beaded jewelry. It’s amazing how well the clothing was preserved below ground (one of the reasons is that bodies were wrapped in rags over the clothes, another is the specific climate of the mountainous area where they were laid to rest). We can study not only the cut and design of the dresses but even embroidery patterns on them.
One of the mummies is an infant 4 months old. She was named Yasmine by the archaeologists. And her attire was probably the most interesting. Under her burial shroud, she had 3 dresses on – a blue one closest to the body, a beige dress over it, and a dark beige dress with silk embroidery on top of the other two garments. Yasmine even had a headpiece and a silk headband under it. She also had one earring and a necklace made from glass beads and coins. This might mean that the infant’s parents were rich and of high status.
When we look at the mummies and their outfits, it’s hard to believe this clothing spent 7 centuries in the soil. They’re almost like vintage heritage garments from someone’s clothes chest or museum exhibits from the storage.
But the most interesting thing in these garments from the grave is the lovely embroidery patterns. They look very much alike with embroidered folk shirts used in different countries (Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Palestine, Turkey, etc) up to the mid-20th century. Here are a few examples of such shirts and dresses.
Beautiful embroidered shirt of young girl, Ukraine, the late 19th – early 20th century
Traditional embroidered dress from Palestine. It’s a modern replica
Needlework pattern on Ukrainian vintage traditional shirt
Embroidery design on Ukrainian traditional shirt
Embroidery pattern on Ukrainian vintage shirt
Read also:
Medieval attire of the Bocksten Man, 14th-century Swedish mummy from a bog
Taizhou mummy dated Ming Dynasty shows us accurate 700-year-old Chinese clothing
Mongolian millennium-old mummy in Adidas-style shoes. Whaaat?!
How ancient Otzi the IceMan made his 5000 years old style backpack
The world’s oldest clothing. Ancient garments right from the tombs
Viking lost mitten from Lendbreen is one of a kind find. How was it made?
