The analysis of archaeological textiles in order to write their ancient cultural history is still in its infancy. This study contributes to this process by cataloging more than 600 original pieces of headwear from the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, and evaluates them in terms of their location, date, sociological context, visual and written sources, as well as their precursors and successors. The majority of the analyzed pieces have so far remained unpublished, and many are for the first time being identified and reconstructed as head coverings. The book thus provides a material basis for costume historians, textile experts, archaeologists, sociologists, art historians, philologists, and museum curators.

This catalogue is the first of three volumes presenting the (so far) unpublished part of the large collection of Late Antique to Early Islamic textiles from Egypt in the Museum für Byzantinische Kunst Berlin. Complete garments, cloth assemblages from burials, and rarities both in textile function and technique will be important objects for the further study of ancient textiles. A photo and a technical analysis accompany each of the 173 catalogue entries. The object description puts special emphasis on the function of the individual cloth. Introductory essays about origin, techniques, construction of garments, iconography and dating of the textiles, as well as an article about the dye analysis, summarize the various researches undertaken. Explanatory drawings, a glossary, a large bibliography and 16 colour plates make the catalogue pleasant to handle.