Tax and Flax: Textile Manufacturing in Medieval Egypt

The second 2026 Sandars Lecture explores how the history of texts and textiles are inseparable. Papyrus was the main portable writing material in Egypt for four thousand years, yet over just four decades, paper made papyrus obsolete in Egypt and endangered in Italy. Medieval Mediterranean paper was made from recycled rags. But where did all those textiles come from? The second Sandars lecture follows a trail of newly deciphered fiscal documents to shed light on textile manufacturing in medieval Egypt’s countryside and trade letters discussing cloth exports to Sicily and Oman. Raw flax, linen textiles, and, eventually, paper made it across the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, turning paper into one of the main materials on which merchants, officials, and scholars wrote the very texts that provide precious clues to what became a medieval writing revolution. Attending this lecture in-person This lecture is FREE and OPEN TO ALL. Booking required. In the event in-person tickets are sold out, please join the waitlist. Or you can sign up to watch the livestream here. Both lectures will be recorded. The lecture will take place in Robinson College’s Umney Theatre in Cambridge. For accessibility information, please visit https://www.accessable.co.uk/robinson-college/access-guides/umney-theatre. Full information about the 2026 Sandars Lectures can be found at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/sandars.