Linen - History

History

Linen was used by Egyptians in ancient times for mummification. Egyptians used linen as burial shrouds. The ancient Egyptians wore linen on a daily basis. They wore only white because of the extreme heat. Linen fabric has been used for table coverings, bed coverings and clothing for centuries. The exclusiveness of linen comes from the difficulty of working with the thread making it time consuming to produce (flax in itself requires a great deal of attention to grow). Flax thread is not elastic so is difficult to weave without breaking threads. Thus it is more expensive to manufacture than cotton.

The Living Linen Project was set up in 1995 as an Oral Archive of the knowledge of the Irish linen industry which is still available within a nucleus of people who formerly worked in the industry in Ulster. There is a long history of linen in Ireland.

The discovery of dyed flax fibers in a cave in Georgia dated to 36,000 BP suggests people used wild flax fibers to create linen-like fabrics from an early date. The use of linen for priestly vestments was not confined to the Israelites. Plutarch wrote that the priests of Isis also wore linen because of its purity.

In December 2006 the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the International Year of Natural Fibres to raise the profile of linen and other natural fibers.