10-18-2005, 08:41 AM
It was my understanding that the point of the libyan hide was to waterproof the felt. Rain will go right through hamata and soak whatever the ungarment is unless it was protected. Thin leather impregnated with fat forms a waterproof barrier. This is why the Romans used leather tents instead of the cheaper linen, which would fill with water and then be too heavy for a mule to carry.
There is a fine quality of goatskin from north africa called "morocco" and I thought of this when I first heard the term Libyan hide. We may never know for sure however.
I would also echo the previous comment, that while many of the things in DRB were submitted as "new" ideas, the author makes it very clear that the felt subarmmallis was used by the Romans in "antiquity". Perhaps it had been discontinued in his time because the regions where felt was commonly made were no longer accessible.
There is a fine quality of goatskin from north africa called "morocco" and I thought of this when I first heard the term Libyan hide. We may never know for sure however.
I would also echo the previous comment, that while many of the things in DRB were submitted as "new" ideas, the author makes it very clear that the felt subarmmallis was used by the Romans in "antiquity". Perhaps it had been discontinued in his time because the regions where felt was commonly made were no longer accessible.
