The article presents the silk textiles which had been discovered in Israel from sites dating to the Byzantine period (5th century CE) till the Medieval period,13th century CE.The most important and significant silk textiles assemblage was found at Qarantal Cave 38 near Jericho dated to the Medieval period,9th through 13th centuries CE.About eight hundred textile fragments were discovered there.They display a remarkable variety of materials (silk,cotton,linen,wool and goat-hair)and techniques suggesting their diverse geographical origins.Most significant are the silk fragments made in various techniques,some of them requiring sophisticated looms.We will discuss the reason why was such a large quantity of used and reused textiles stored in the cave [1].A few other medieval textile assemblages from the Land of Israel have been discovered-for example,at 'Avdat [2],at Kasr el-Yahud [3],Judean Desert caves [4],and at Caesarea [5].However,none of these assemblages is as rich and diverse as the one in Cave 38 and none of them have silk textiles except Caesarea with one silk textile.
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