ANSWER
Silk from Baghdad.
The Al-Attabiyah suburb of Baghdad, Iraq, named for an Attab, an early Islamic prince, was known for it's unique tiger-striped silk. The term "attabi", or simply "tabbi", first referred to this particular type of silk, and later to anything tiger-striped. Over time it came to refer specifically to tiger-striped kitty-cats.
WHO GOT IT RIGHT: JP Weigt, Iron Saul, Bob Milligan, Marika Thiessen, Kay van Nielen, Dennis Rodgers, Robert Berkowitz, Kari Hermunen, Gregory Combs, Marc Quinlivan, and Duke Duquette.
