Budapest: two Roman heddles

There have been two finds of Roman era rigid heddles in Hungary.  Both have interesting characteristics. 

The most unusual is the heddle found in Aquincum.  This charming heddle has two bottle-nosed dolphins carved along one side edge. It is made of red deer antler. It is 6 cm by 2.9 cm. The slots are only1 mm in width. The two dolphins bring the total width to 4 cm. It is on permanent display at the Aquincum Museum.  

The second heddle was found in a male grave in Pilismarot. Is very different.  It is made of bronze and is larger in terms of overall dimensions. However, both heddles can take up to a maximum of 11 warp ends. The Aquincum heddle has slots of about 47 mm but the Pilismarot heddle has slots of approximately 70 mm.  This determines the height of the shed when lifting or lowering the heddle - although, of course, the shed can be manipulated by hand to stretch higher. 

I visited both museums when I went to Budapest for the first time in June.  It is a beautiful city and well worth a visit. 

Aquincum Museum is on the outskirts of the town and is easy to get to on public transport. https://www.aquincum.hu/en/

It is an extensive archaeological site. 

A view of part of the site. 

The site is fascinating. 

Outside on the approach to the museum

There are a number of buildings housing different exhibits including a reconstruction called the House of the painter. 

The house of the painter

One of the interior rooms. 

There are outside displays of Roman carved stonework - statures, gravestones etc. 

There was a separate buildings containing mosaics - again beautifully displayed and with plenty of information. 

The main museum building is quite extensive and has several rooms of displays.  One of the more surprising items is the find of a Roman organ. I did not realise that the Romans had such a sophisticated musical instrument.  Most of the pipes were found and the organ has been reconstructed.  My photo is not brilliant as the lighting in the display was bright but you can see what it was like. 

The Roman musical organ a 1999 reconstruction

These were expensive and luxurious musical instruments.  The description of the organ said :  In AD 228, Gaius Julius Viatorinus, a prominent official of the Aquincum Civil Town presented a portable organ to the collegium of textile-dealers. The collegium had an important role not only  in the social life of its members, but also in the public service assigned to it, namely fire detection and fire fighting in the town. The instrument donated by the Aquincum dignitary was kept there, and it could have been played during festivities. 

The translation of the plaque reads:

Gaius Julius Viatorinus, councillor of the colonia of Aquincum, former aedile, the commander of the association of textile-dealers, gave this organ to the aforementioned association at his own expense in the consulship of Modestus and Probus (AD 228).

What an amazing find. If you visit the web site of the museum you can hear the sounds that this type of organ would make. 

Another interesting exhibit is a dolphin fountain. 

Dolphin fountain in the Governor’s Palace

Freshwater limestone

2nd century AD

Budapest, District III, Hajógyári Island, Governor’s Palace (1951–1952)

Fragments of the limestone fountain were found in various rooms of the Governor’s Palace (praetorium) on Hajógyári Island during excavations in 1951–1952. The fountain was made at about the same time as the palace was built, in the early-2nd century, and it was used to decorate the courtyard until the palace was abandoned. This dolphin fountain has been reconstructed but is interesting in that the Roman heddle made of antler found in Aquincum also features dolphins. 

Dolphin fountain from the Governors house.

Finally we went to the  museum. 

The museum building

I wanted to see the Roman rigid heddle that was found in Aquincum.  here it is in the case with other objects. The staff were very helpful and found the heddle that I was looking for in the display case. It is quite unique due to the material from which it is made and the two dolphins along one side. 

The small Roman rigid heddle.

I was really thrilled to see it as I had only seen photographs beforehand.  It is 6 cm long and 2.9 cm in width. The holes are 1mm in diameter. It was found in 2016 in a shallow round pit. 

We had a wonderful holiday although it was very hot. Definitely a place to visit.

I used a reproduction of the Pilismarot heddle in one of my latest videos on YouTube   

Weaving a narrow band with a butterfly weft: 

 https://youtu.be/HBhotrWs4-s

Roman heddle reproduction  

I am working on another YouTube video showing simple patterning using a small Roman heddle. It is fascinating to just how versatile these small heddles can be and also speculating on what these narrow bands could have been used for in Roman society.

Happy weaving

Susan J Foulkes  August 2025

#romanrigidheddles