Part of the slaves were personal servants of individuals. Others belonged to estates of temples and noblemen, often taken during a military campaign or bestowed by the king. But how is one to interpret the following Old Kingdom inscription

Slavery always had a secondary function in the Egyptian economy. The serving labour began only from the new reign, that is when the pharaohs’ military campaigns in Nubia and in Asia led in Egypt many prisoners. The soldiers received foreign slaves for their services and the temples and the pharaoh’s possessions were enriched with slaves taken from the defeated people. We know very little about these slaves’ condition.

were used for sending meteorologic instruments aloft to measure wind velocity, temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity.

wind velocity

Silk was first made by the Chinese about 4,000 years ago. Silk thread is made from the cocoon of the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori), a small moth whose caterpillar eats the leaves of the mulberry tree. According to Chinese legend, the first silk thread was made when the Chinese Empress Si-Ling-Chi was sitting under a mulberry tree and a cocoon fell into her tea; she noticed the strong, silky threads of the cocoon uncoiling. She then developed the use of silk. For more information on the development of silk, click here.