Shahd Alhamdan Saudi Gazette The Fabric Museum on Almoez Street is considered as one of the first museums for preserving ancient fabrics in the Middle East. It was made on the orders of Mohammed Ali Pasha with marbles in line with the Ottoman and European styles. Citizens were served with free water until 1828 AD there. The museum consists of two floors. There are three halls – the Pharaonic hall, Coptic hall, and the Greek hall – on the ground floor. On the second floor, there are fabrics from the Coptic and Islamic period in general, especially, from the periods of Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman. Large, ancient preserved fabric pieces are very unique. For example, in the Pharaonic hall there is are ancient styled clothes made of Pete fabric. Some of the gowns or robes are made from Albulise, while other pharaonic clothes are made from linen. The second hall on the floor also has fabrics associated with towels. There is also a bed which was used in wildlife sanctuaries or hunting in the desert. The third hall beside a water tank displays the fabric art coke which was widespread in Europe. It was brought by Muhammad Ali because he was influenced by the European art. Preserved in the museum are some statues of priests of the pharaohs, who wore plain white clothes. Ther are also fabrics which were worn by the princes or were used to shroud the dead. Pieces of batik-printed clothing from the Coptic era are also kept in glass boxes. The floor that houses the fabrics from the Islamic era also had some old Ka'ba materials like a rectangular-shaped belt with inscriptions embroidered in silver silk thread dating back to 1936. Then, there was a another belt that was given to then King AbdullahAziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia by KingFarouk I of Egypt. The museum has plethora of ancient fabrics with placards next to each piece, providing the visitors with all the historical information, origin, use, location, among others.
