Tablet-woven sash by Aleksandra Zwawiak

Since Giannis Kadoglou alerted us to the idea of tablet weaving several years ago, I've wondered whether the narrow sash worn with Medo-Persian and Elamite dress was made by this method or by cutting and stitching.  I had first made some sashes in 2013 from cotton webbing, but the one I wore in 2015 was essentially a double-wide strip cut from wool yardage, sewn into a tube, inverted, and gathered at the ends.  This works well enough, but several of us at Amphictyonia have long been of the suspicion that the zigzags shown on the Egyptian statue of Darius the Great were made by tablet-weaving instead.

Over the summer, I gave a shot at tablet-weaving my own belt from hemp.  My conclusion?  Practice a lot, or leave it to the professionals.

I contacted Aleksandra Zwawiak, proprietor of SagaWeaving (UK), about the possibility of a custom belt three weeks ago after seeing that she had produced belts with apparently the same weave pattern.  We discussed the specifications and settled on a design over a couple of days.  She ordered the yarn right away and had created the belt within a few days after that, and it arrived at my door this morning.  Aleksandra was very pleasant to work with and, having some glimmer of the effort and care this technique requires, I'm impressed at the quality and speed of her work as well, as how modestly-priced it is.

I requested a solid off-white or beige as might be obtained from a white sheep, and a width of 35-40mm - it comes in at a hair under 40mm.  The belt is a bit thick, but it has to be for the weave to be visible, and the wool is very soft and easy to tie.  It differs from the Egyptian statue in not having the lengthwise stripes with apparent Holbein stitching.  It's my best guess that these represent appliqued trim rather than part of the sash's weave, so I didn't expect or request that they be included.

(I seem to be having a bit of trouble with square knots lately.)  The standard length of 135cm between the tassels is just about right for my waist (around 30 inches or 76cm); the square knot takes up more length than a simple knot would.  The loose ends of the tassels will have to be trimmed almost to nothing, but I haven't yet decided how to eliminate the risk of the knots becoming untied once this is done, so I asked Aleksandra to leave them at full length in the meanwhile.  A possible solution would be to immediately soak the trimmed knots in melted rosin-beeswax glue to turn them into solid lumps; this would be permanent and waterproof, though the discoloration might look unsightly.

It must be emphasized that this is a speculative reconstruction.  I think it's a highly plausible one, as good as any other, and fits the available evidence.

The early Achaemenid sash and weapon belt: COMPLETE

Update 12/10/13:  This post contains information that is probably incorrect.  Please see here.

This is a rough-draft recreation of the Achaemenid sash and weapon belt.
 
The sash

The sash is a length of plain-woven cotton belting or "web," which is not strictly accurate - it should probably be wool (as cotton had to be imported from India and was quite expensive), and the only evidence for the type of weave I have found, the Egyptian statue of Darius the Great, has a fancy pattern which I would surmise to be herringbone twill with additional strips appliqued with a holbein stitch along the entire length of the sash.  Whatever material you use, it should be flexible enough to pleat and knot easily, so not too heavyweight.

When worn with a weapon belt, the sash and belt appear to be about the same width, which looks to me somewhat more than an inch, perhaps one and a quarter to one and a half inches (3.2-3.8cm).

First, square-knot the sash around your waist and cut it to the proper length.  A good length for the hanging ends is about six to 10 inches (15-25cm).

Next, double-whiptstitch the cut ends to prevent them from unraveling.

My technique for creating the little round things on the ends may not be accurate, but it's easy enough:

Fold the end into pleats.

Draw the needle and most of the thread through the pleats.

Wind the thread tightly and heavily around the end and tie it off several times before trimming off the excess.

Interestingly, a shorter and narrower, but fundamentally similar, sash is worn by a Parthian on the Arch of Septimus Severus, seven hundred years later.

The belt
The weapon belt is made of heavyweight, vegetable-tanned leather - about 8 ounces is a good weight.  Wrap it around your waist to a comfortable snugness and mark with a pencil where it should end and where to punch the holes.  A few inches of overlap is good.  Make holes with a leather punch, awl, drill, etc. and insert the leather lace.

Nothing quite resembling the conical bronze conchos used by the Medes and Persians is currently being produced by anyone that I've found, although a jewelry-casting studio should be able to make them easily enough and I intend to look into that when I'm not so unemployed.

As a stopgap measure, here I am using a "northern-style" concho, which is widely available from Native American craft suppliers.  It's made from heavy brass sheet, domed, and usually sold with a soldered loop on the back.  Soldering isn't a rock-solid method of attachment, but don't worry; the way we're using it here doesn't require the solder to bear any weight.  The belt and concho in the above pictures are 1-1/2 inch and 1-1/4 inch, respectively.

Finally, position your bowcase and/or dagger scabbard just forward of your right and left hips, and punch holes in the belt to attach them.

 For comparison, see page 5 of Nirupars' Persepolis gallery, second row from the bottom, middle photo.