🧶 Words of Weaving and Wear: Ancient Egyptian Textile Vocabulary

Posted On June 3, 2025

🧵✨ These tables offer a curated look at ancient Egyptian vocabulary related to clothing, textiles, and fiber arts. From garments and laundry 🧺 to dyeing 🎨 and sewing 🪡, each term is presented with its Egyptian spelling (in transliteration), a Manuel de Codage (MdC) code for hieroglyphic rendering, and a Unicode version of the glyphs 🕊️ when available. Coptic equivalents are also included where historically meaningful, offering a glimpse into linguistic continuity across time. Whether you’re a researcher, reenactor, maker, or just curious about ancient fashion, this resource provides a trustworthy lexicon grounded in real sources 📚—including Faulkner’s Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Crum’s Coptic Dictionary, and the Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache (Wb). Use it to support your studies, workshops, creative projects, or just to geek out about how cool linen was in 1500 BCE! 🧶👗📜

📲 Note: If you see boxes ▢ or missing characters in the tables, it means your device may not support the specialized fonts used for Egyptian transliteration or hieroglyphs. To fix this, try viewing the page on a modern browser, or install a font like Gentium Plus (for transliteration) or Aegyptus / Noto Sans Egyptian Hieroglyphs (for hieroglyphs). These are free, cross-platform, and will display the characters correctly.

👕 Table I – Clothing Terms

English Meaning	Egyptian Word	Transliteration	MdC Code	Hieroglyph (Unicode)	Coptic	Source
Loincloth	šndyt	shendyt	S:n:d-i-i-t	𓈙𓈖𓂧𓏭𓏏	ⲥⲓⲛⲧⲓ	Faulkner, p. 266
Tunic / Shirt	ḥbs	hebes	H-b-s	𓎛𓃀𓋴	ⲁⲡⲟⲃ	Wilson, p. 509; Crum
Kalasiris	krs	kalasiris	k:r-s	𓎡𓂋𓋴	ⲕⲁⲗⲁⲥⲓⲣⲓⲥ	Herodotus II.86; Hart
Skirt	ḫt	khet	x:t	𓐍𓏏	—	Faulkner, p. 187
Sash / Belt	mnḫ	menekh	m:n-x	𓅓𓈖𓐍	ⲙⲉⲛⲉϩ	Wb II, 67; Crum

🧶 Table II – Textile Techniques and Tools

English Meaning	Egyptian Word	Transliteration	MdC Code	Hieroglyph (Unicode)	Coptic	Source
To weave	sḳ	seq	s:q	𓋴𓈎	ϣⲱⲡⲉ	Faulkner, p. 237; Crum, p. 572
To spin (thread)	ḥḳꜣ	ḥḳꜣ	H:q-Aa1	𓎛𓈎𓂝	ⲕⲟⲓ	Wb III, 66; Crum, p. 640
Thread / Yarn	ḥsb	heseb	H-s-b	𓎛𓋴𓃀	—	Faulkner, p. 185
Loom	mnw	menu	m:n-w	𓅓𓈖𓅱	—	Wb II, 66–67
Needle	ḥḏ	hedj	H:D	𓎛𓂧	ϩⲁⲧⲉ	Faulkner, p. 186; Crum, p. 552

🧼 Table III – Laundry and Cleaning Terms

English Meaning	Egyptian Word	Transliteration	MdC Code	Hieroglyph (Unicode)	Coptic	Source
To wash (clothing)	šꜣ	šꜣ	S-Aa1	𓈙𓂝	ⲥϩⲁⲓ	Faulkner, p. 263; Crum, p. 535
To beat laundry	sḏm	sḏm	s:D-m	𓋴𓂧𓅓	ϣⲉⲧ	Wb IV, 225–26
To wring out	ḥḳꜣ	ḥḳꜣ	H:q-Aa1	𓎛𓈎𓂝	ⲥⲁⲧ	Wb III, 66
Laundry worker	šꜣw	šꜣw	S-Aa1-w	𓈙𓂝𓅱	ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲓ	Wb IV, 508
Clean / Pure	wꜣb	wꜣb	w:a:b	𓅱𓂝𓃀	ⲟⲩⲁⲃ	Faulkner, p. 57; Crum, p. 413

🎨 Table IV – Color and Dye Terms

English Meaning	Egyptian Word	Transliteration	MdC Code	Hieroglyph (Unicode)	Coptic	Source
Red	dšr	desher	d-S-r	𓂧𓋴𓂋	ⲇⲉⲥⲉⲣ	Faulkner, p. 545; Crum, p. 590
Green	wꜣḏ	wadj	w-A-D	𓅱𓂝𓂧	ⲟⲩⲁϫ	Faulkner, p. 57; Crum, p. 910
Black	km	kem	k-m	𓎡𓐝	ⲕⲁⲙ	Faulkner, p. 272; Crum, p. 726
White / Bright	ḥḏ	hedj	H-D	𓎛𓂧	ϩⲏⲧ	Faulkner, p. 186; Crum, p. 552
Yellow / Gold	nbw	nebw	nb-w	𓈖𓃀𓅱	ⲛⲉⲃⲉ	Faulkner, p. 140; Crum, p. 770

🧵 Table V – Expanded Textile Vocabulary

English Meaning	Egyptian Word	Transliteration	MdC Code	Hieroglyph (Unicode)	Coptic	Source
Linen	ḫt	khet	x:t	𓐍𓏏	ⲕⲁϩ	Faulkner, p. 187; Crum, p. 641
Flax	šnṯt	shenetet	S-n:t:t	𓈙𓈖𓏏𓏏	—	Wb IV, 524
Wool	smꜣ	sema	s-m-Aa1	𓋴𓅓𓂝	ⲥⲙⲓ	Wb IV, 173
Cloth (general)	ḥbs	hebes	H-b-s	𓎛𓃀𓋴	ⲁⲡⲟⲃ	See Table I
To dye	sbq	sebeq	s-b-q	𓋴𓃀𓈎	ⲥⲓⲃⲟⲗ	Wb IV, 72; Crum, p. 739
To bleach	sḫr	sekher	s-x:r	𓋴𓐍𓂋	—	Wb IV, 113
To sew	ḥqy	heqi	H-q-y	𓎛𓈎𓇌	ϩⲁⲕⲓ	Wb III, 66; Crum, p. 552
Fringe	sḫꜥ	sekha	s-x-Aa1	𓋴𓐍𓂝	—	Wb IV, 122
Hem	ḥkꜣ	heka	H-k-Aa1	𓎛𓎡𓂝	—	Wb III, 66
Fold / crease	ḫqꜣ	kheqa	x-q-Aa1	𓐍𓈎𓂝	—	Wb III, 69
Cloak or cape	ssm	sesem	s-s-m	𓋴𓋴𓅓	—	Wb IV, 258
Apron	šꜣyt	shayet	S-Aa1-t	𓈙𓂝𓏏	—	Faulkner, p. 263