Archaeological linen textiles in uncontrolled museums are exposed to many different damage factors. It is noticed in some Egyptian Museums that the differences in temperature and use of inappropriate light bulbs are the most enemies of dyed historical textiles. This article presents interesting results about the
effect thermal and light ageing on optical,chemical and mechanical characterization of dyed linen textiles. New linen textiles are prepared and dyed with Turmeric similar to the ancient linen textiles. The new linen textiles were exposed to artificial heat and light ageing. A close examination was conducted by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and stereo microscope. Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis (FTIR) and CIE-Lab values according to ASTM method D5035 were applied. Among the most prominent results of the study was the appearance of oxidation and hydrolysis bands of cellulosic materials due to ageing process, in addition to the appearance of some bands that express a defect in the chemical structure of cellulosic materials, such as the spectral range at 435 cm-1.