The vast majority of archaeological, epigraphic and iconographic sources indicate that textile production was one of the crucial economic and social activities in both Ancient Egypt and the Near East. The surviving archaeological and textual data reveal complex production systems and administrative procedures involving terminology, recording and accounting. Consequently, textile production has long attracted scholarly attention, given its relevance for understanding technological, social and economic developments in ancient societies.
Chiara Spinazzi-Lucchesi’s Threads of contact offers a thoughtful and well-documented investigation into the technological and cultural intersections between Ancient Egypt and the Southern Levant, approached through the lens of textile tools. Intended for archaeologists and specialists in textile studies, the book successfully integrates material, technological and cultural perspectives, contributing substantially to the expanding field of ancient-textile archaeology.
The central research question concerns whether the two regions followed shared technological trajectories or evolved independently. By tracing the evolution of spinning and weaving tools across time and space, Spinazzi-Lucchesi reconstructs networks of contact and influence that shaped ancient-textile production. The study is firmly comparative yet avoids schematic dichotomies, emphasising instead regional diversity and historical dynamism. The author’s discussion of local traditions, raw materials and technical innovations yields a nuanced picture of how textile industries both reflected and influenced broader exchange patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Methodologically, the work distinguishes itself through direct examination of artefacts from major sites in both regions (Megiddo, Hazor, Beth Shean and Tell el-Farʿah in the Southern Levant; Kahun, Gurob and Deir el-Medina in Egypt) combined with a careful re-evaluation of published excavation data. This dual approach allows the author to move beyond typological cataloguing toward a more contextually grounded understanding of production and technology. The chronological scope, from the Neolithic to the beginning of the Persian period (c. 7000–550 BC), is ambitious but effective, permitting long-term observation of technological continuity and transformation.
The structure of the volume is clear and effective. Following an introduction and an overview of textile-production techniques, Spinazzi-Lucchesi discusses fibres and early textile finds before devoting two substantial chapters to regional case studies. The concluding chapter, ‘Tools in contact’, synthesises the comparative evidence and convincingly examines possible mechanisms of technological transmission. An accompanying online repository of studied artefacts further enhances the book’s scholarly value (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15611432).
While the book’s focus on tools provides a strong analytical foundation, the study would benefit from a fuller integration of historical context. Textile production in Egypt and the Southern Levant was deeply embedded in institutional, social and economic frameworks: temples, palaces and large estates played a decisive role in organising labour and managing textile output. The existence of large-scale workshops, especially those attached to temples or royal institutions, is well attested in both regions, and a more extensive discussion could have provided a clearer sense of how textile manufacture functioned within systems of redistribution and control. Fuller references to written evidence for such facilities (for instance, the weaving quarters at Gurob or the industrial installations at Beth Shean) would have illuminated the organisation of production beyond the typology of tools per se. Similarly, consideration of gendered division of labour, and of the relationship between domestic and institutional production, could have further contextualised the technological data.
A more detailed historical overview of political and economic relations between Egypt and the Southern Levant, although briefly discussed in the Introduction, would have helped situate the technological developments within their broader setting if integrated more fully into the analytical chapters. The movement of materials, craftspeople and finished textiles between the two regions was not only a matter of exchange but also of diplomacy, tribute and inter-elite communication. Embedding the archaeological data within these historical frameworks could have clarified the mechanisms of contact that underpinned the technological parallels observed. Given the prominence of institutional workshops in New Kingdom Egypt and Late Bronze Age Levantine centres, a deeper engagement with administrative documents would have enriched the broader socioeconomic framing of the technological analysis.
In addition, while the study’s regional focus is well defined, occasional reference to Aegean and Anatolian materials would have provided a wider comparative horizon. The Late Bronze Age textile industries of the Aegean (especially at sites such as Pylos and Mycenae) and of Anatolia, notably in Hittite contexts, reveal analogous developments in loom technology and fibre processing. These comparative cases demonstrate that similar tool types and manufacturing techniques circulated across vast areas of the Eastern Mediterranean, pointing to a shared vocabulary of textile technology. Even a brief comparative discussion would have underscored how the Egyptian–Levantine sphere fits into these broader networks of technological exchange and innovation. Such comparisons would have highlighted whether Egyptian–Levantine developments were part of a single technological koine or represented distinct regional adaptations within a broader Eastern Mediterranean textile tradition.
Despite these minor reservations, Threads of contact is an exemplary piece of research. Spinazzi-Lucchesi demonstrates how close analysis of everyday artefacts (spindle whorls, loom weights and other implements) can illuminate far-reaching questions of technology, identity and cultural interaction. The book also succeeds in showing that textile tools, often regarded as marginal finds, can serve as sensitive indicators of connectivity and technological transmission. While some readers might wish for greater engagement with textual and iconographic sources, the author’s focus is both coherent and methodologically rigorous. Her ability to combine detailed empirical study with broad interpretive vision makes the book a valuable contribution to the understanding of cross-cultural exchange in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean. It will serve as a reliable reference for archaeologists, historians and textile specialists alike, and provides a solid foundation for future interdisciplinary studies of ancient technologies and economies.
