Mediterranean Interconnections: Weaving Technologies during the Middle Bronze Age

The use of the warp-weighted loom in Anatolia, the Aegean and Cyprus since the Early Bronze Age is attested by archaeological evidence, indicating that it was the main weaving technology in use in the area. However, the situation in the Levant during the Bronze Age was completely different: interactions between different weaving methods are known since at least the Middle Bronze Age (MBA), when loom-weights indicate the introduction of the warp-weighted loom and continued use of the traditional Syro-Mesopotamian horizontal ground-loom. The new technique of the two-beam vertical loom, later well documented by iconographic representations in Egypt, was also probably present. The distribution and types of textile implements found in the Syro-Palestinian regions also suggest that the evolution of the new loom types probably occurred in specific zones of interaction, along the southern coast, in the ‘Amuq Valley and in the Nile Delta, where the cultural and commercial relations between the Aegean, Cyprus and the Anatolian plateau were stronger. From a socio-economic perspective the presence of the warp-weighted loom in the Levant during the MBA seems to be a phenomenon mainly associated with a restricted group of craftsmen linked to palace organisation, possibly reflecting specific textile products and/or a distinct sector of the local textile industry.