Over two centuries ago, Dhaka muslin was the most coveted and expensive fabric in the world, gracing the wardrobes of royalty and the elite. Made in Bengal, now part of Bangladesh, this fabric was renowned for its ethereal beauty, with a thread count of 1,200—far higher than today’s best cotton fabrics. The secret to Dhaka muslin's finesse lay in its production process. It required cotton from a specific plant, Phuti karpas, which grew only along the Meghna River. Unlike the longer fibers used in modern cotton, these fibers were short and delicate, making them hard to work with but essential to the fabric's unique qualities. Crafting Dhaka muslin involved a painstaking 16-step process, each carried out by artisans in separate
![The Shroud of Turin: modern, digitally processed image of the face on the cloth [left] and the full body image as seen on the shroud [right].](/sites/default/files/styles/article_featured_big/public/field/image/The-Shroud-of-Turin.jpg?itok=vcatQVp6)
