"Gamma" Prayer Shawl

Wool, cotton, metallic fibres
8-harness Summer and Winter weave
76 x 193 cm. (30" x 76"), plus fringe

Although the origin of stripes on prayer shawls is uncertain, archaeologists have found evidence that in Greco-Roman times when men and women all wore long lengths of cloth, geometrical markings differentiated their clothing. The "gamma" symbol was often used to mark a woman's garment.

Judaism considers it important that men and women not wear each other's clothes. This prohibition still exists in orthodoxy, where women, for example, do not wear trousers.