In the middle ages the Middle East was renowned for its "fine" silks, linen (from Egypt), cotton & metallic threads and was much sought after & considered to be of high quality from people throughout Western Europe in addition to the Middle Eastern Royalty. The Silk Road was the main source of fine textile distribution for a number of countries from the East (since as early as approx. 100BC), but around 900AD, the greater Islamic nation smuggled in small silkworms upon learning of the construction secrets of silk and thus a variety of luxurious textiles became available to the Western world.

In court, luxurious textiles and dress displayed the prestige of particular officials and gifts from the royalty usually consisted of these rich and opulent materials. Fabrics in the Middle East were considered to have ‘magical powers’ thus being used for furnishings in the house eg divans, mattresses, pillows, carpets and cushions (instead of using wooden or stone furniture), precious gifts, forms of settlement & wills, and royal tents which were regarded as royal emblems.

Silk came in many forms from light weight sheer material to quite weighted. It was mostly worn by people of authority due to the Quran stating that Muslims could not have silk touching the skin as it was the material for the enlightened ones. A number of Caliphs managed to dispute the law and proceeded to wear silk by wearing another form of material under the silk garment.

Linen originally was cultivated in Egypt the earliest fragment being around 5000 BC. The Egyptians held the market for linen manufacturing in the middle ages due to the quality and fineness of the material.

Cotton was largely exported from the Middle East into areas such as China & Europe, it was used for quilts, mattresses & clothing.

Metallic Threads were developed by twisting silver or gold wire around fibres of silk, linen or cotton, it was also beaten flat and gilded onto leather. Painting & stamping metallic pigments onto fabric was used on the Yemeni, Egyptians & Ottoman textiles. To this day the thread is used in dressmaking especially in garments such as the Beledi dresses and they are still quite costly.

Wool of course was used in carpets, cloaks, saddles & tents. At times the wool was mixed with camel hair & also goats hair for making shawls & mantles. Wool was associated with simplicity, honesty & piety.

Mordants, bleaches and dyes got used quite extensively. Alum was used for tanning leather, felting & on silk & wool, substitutes were also around and these consisted of slats, iron, copper, any astringents containing high levels of tannic acid, pistachio leaves & galls & Oak galls (dead sea apples). The mordants fixed colours and helped to add a good tone with additives. The bleaching formula used was Natran.

Below are same examples of the dyes;

Pattern dyeing using wax, gum or clay paste on the material in designated areas and then applying the dye. The other method used was tie-dyeing by tightly wrapping the material.

Patterns varied from geometric, spiral & plaited forms, animal figures and in some instances figures of humans (which in Muslin communities was not used), florals & stripes (known as ‘attahi’ meaning tabby). Braid came from a form of tablet weaving again using similar patterns.

Beads were heavily utilized, types included precious stones, pearls, shells and Shisha mirrors (made from mica & silvery insect wings prior to the 16^th century, but from then on glass or polished metal was used.) Coins on sashes and edging on clothing started by the entertainers not having anywhere to keep their riches so they wore the coins as jewelry or sewed it onto their clothing and then it became quite fashionable for the sound that the coins made appeared to be very feminine.