The Oldest Woven Dress

The Tarkhan Dress has been confirmed to be the world’s oldest woven garment, at over 5,000 years old.

The name comes from the Tarkhan cemetery south of Cairo, Egypt, where the dress was found in 1913.

The dress, which has detailed stitching and tailoring, has undergone radiocarbon testing by the University of Oxford, dating it from between 3482 and 3102 BCE.

The Tarkhan Dress has been confirmed to be the world’s oldest woven garment, at over 5,000 years old

The size and quality of the garment implies that it was made for either a teenager or a slender woman, who was a member of the elite.

Researchers have been able to determine that the dress did have a natural pale grey stripe with knife-pleated sleeves and bodice. They were unable to decipher the original length of the dress, as the hem is missing.

The Tarkhan Dress is on display in the UCL Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London, UK.