I notice in the Journal "Embroidery" (G.W. Wolleston, Heraldic Embroidery, March 1933) an illustration and mention of an eucharistic vestment called "the maniple". The existence of this vestement I was ignorant. Apparently it comprises a narrow strip of embroidered material, about three feet in length, attached or hung from the left arm. It seems to be essentially a "mass vestement", and is said to be derived from a handkerchief or napkin. The reason I mention this is because I found similar articles of apparel, of coloured woven linen, I now believe vestments, in the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen. I believed them to have been scarves, but since I find no record of neck-wear, such as a scarf, among the ancient Egyptian mummies, other than scarf or sash worn baldric-wise for which these specimens seem too small, I am now inclined to believe them, as they were found
with other vestments, to be possibly some prototype of the mass vestment "the maniple". It said that the R. C. Church derived the maniple from the Roman clergy of the IVth century. But, whence did they get it? Might it not be of Pharaonic origin? - like the dalmatic and gloves. At least the existence of such an article in the XIVth century B.C., is food for speculation!
(September 5, 2008)
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