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A one-of-a-kind sun hat, likely worn by a Roman soldier in Egypt, was recently unveiled for the first time – and its survival is considered miraculous.
The sun hat is currently on display at the Bolton Museum in Greater Manchester, England. It was found at the Illahun archaeological site in the Egyptian city of Faiyum in 1888.
The accessory was donated to Bolton’s first museum, the Chadwick Museum, in 1911, and had been in storage for nearly 115 years – until now.
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Ian Trumble, a curator of archaeology for Bolton Library & Museum Services, told Fox News Digital the hat survived thanks to Egypt’s dry conditions.
“In Egypt, textiles are often well-preserved in areas where the ground has remained dry, but do not survive in wetter areas nearer to the Nile or in lowland and valley areas that were prone to flooding, such as the Valley of the Kings,” he said.
“This hat was excavated from a drier area of the city, but the Faiyum is generally a wetter area, so the survival of this piece is still quite remarkable.”
The hat is believed to be between 2,100 and 2,400 years old, dating to either the Greek or Roman period of Egyptian history.
“The exterior of the hat is of a cream-colored wool, whereas the interior is a dyed red wool.”
“Our current theory is that it was worn by a soldier, who could have adapted it for Egyptian conditions when they moved with the Roman army from Anatolia to Egypt,” Trumble said.
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There are only two similar hats in existence, the expert noted. One is in Manchester, while the other is in Florence.
“We believe that Bolton’s example was always the more complete survival, but now that the conservation has been done, we believe it to be the best example in the world,” said Trumble.
The hat is made of woolen felt, but the exact type of wool is unknown until further testing.
It would have been “particularly susceptible to damage from pests and natural degradation,” the curator observed.
“The exterior of the hat is of a cream-colored wool, whereas the interior is a dyed red wool,” Trumble said.
“The conservation allowed us to examine the construction of the hat in more detail, and it appears that the conical body of the hat may have been made earlier than the scalloped brim, as the brim is of a less dense felt and seems to have been added onto the body in a different type of stitch.”
The hat now sits in the entrance case to the museum’s Egypt galleries. It will be moved to a permanent display in September.
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The Bolton Museum boasts the largest collection of ancient Egyptian textiles in the United Kingdom. Its collection spans over 7,000 years of Egyptian history, Trumble told Fox News Digital.
The hat joins more than 8,000 other individual pieces in the museum.
“The fragility of the hat was one of the reasons that it was never put on display and could only remain flat,” he noted.
“As part of the conservation, it has been cleaned and strengthened with a sympathetic support lining, allowing us to display it for the first time … We are hoping that we can conduct further research into the hat in the future to find out more about its history.”
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