In 1902-1903, during excavations at the necropolis of Antinoöpolis, Albert Gayet uncovered a 6th-century tomb which was "remarkable due to the incredibly sumptuous clothing the deceased was wearing". Sabina, as she is known, was dressed in a "pink wool dress", a "padded mantelet of purple silk, and a "red wool shawl".

After the archaeological excavation, the material from the tomb was dispersed, along with the rest of the fabric and objects discovered at Antinoöpolis. Fragments of the "shawl" – originally a wall hanging, reused as a shroud – were thus sent to the Louvre, Lyon's Textile Arts Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.

Studies of the entire shawl have revealed a large cloth made from red wool decorated with four squares, one in each corner, and a central medallion, surrounded by stripes. The cloth is decorated with a scattering of lively mythological or Nilotic motifs, as can be seen in this fragment: a bathing Aphrodite in a crown held by two putti, stylised flowers, ducks emerging from lotuses and lilies, and various putti: swimming, fishing, carrying a basket of fruit, armed with a bow, or posing erotically. The quality of the weaving and tapestry work is particularly impressive. Furthermore, the variety and originality of the iconography are evidence of the way pagan Greco-Roman motifs persisted in Egypt even when it was almost entirely converted to Christianity.