Spindle

"This well-preserved spindle and whorl was used to spin wool, cotton, or linen fibers into thread. The spindle is made of a long, thin piece of wood with a round section. It tapers toward one end, and is weighted with a whorl at the other. The whorl is decorated with two incised lines around the circumference along the bottom edge, a series of dotted circles above, and two concentric circles around the spindle hole.

Thread for weaving textiles was spun mainly by women working in the home. The technique involved fastening a length of twisted fibers to the spindle, and allowing it to swing and drop to the ground as fibers were fed by hand to the spinning thread. The whorl acts as a weight to maintain the spin and produce a fine, even thread.

For similar spindles and whorls, see Rutschowascaya, pp. 44-48; Gazda, 1983a, p. 27, fig. 46; Paris, pp. 195-96, no. 142a; Petrie, 1927, pl. LIV, nos 539-42; Petrie, 1917, p. 53, nos. 43-47, pl. LXV; Strzygowski, pl. IX, 7228." --Eunice Dauterman Maguire, Henry Maguire and Maggie J. Duncan-Flowers, Art and Holy Powers in the Early Christian House (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 153.

James, T.G.H. Excavating in Egypt: The Egypt Exploration Society 1882-1982. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.

Maguire, Eunice Dauterman, Henry Maguire and Maggie J. Duncan-Flowers. Art and Holy Powers in the Early Christian House. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.