byssus
byssus
- J. P. Wild
Extract
Byssus(βύσσος, prob. = Akkad. būṣu, Hebrew būṣ), a conspicuously fine fibre, normally of plant origin. Aeschylus (Sept.1039; Pers. 125) mentions fine tunics of βύσσος, probably *linen (flax) in this context; the Egyptian mummy bandages described by Herodotus (2. 86) as βύσσος were also linen. But later the term was extended to *cotton (explicitly in Poll.Subjects
- Ancient Economy
