Classical Studies 2700A/B Lecture 19: Classics 2700B Lecture 19
2 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
The textile industry in the ancient world was even more important than leather. Textiles covers many processes: production of fibres, their processing, their spinning, their weaving into cloth, and its finishing. R. j. forbes has 260 pp. on this topic alone. Textiles were such an everyday matter that ancient prose writers tended to take them for granted; only poets go into great detail, as do some folktales. Biggest source is r. j. forbes studying ancient technology, volume 4, second addition (260 pages entirely on ancient textiles) Since clothing is such an everyday matter most ancient prose writers don"t say much about it. Greek and roman poets tell much more (spinning and weaving come up in myths and folktales) Fibres and their preparation: basically four to be considered two animal (wool and silk) and two vegetable (flax and cotton). Wool: many varieties of sheep; domestication goes back to early neolithic period (earliest samples of wool are from pre-dynastic egypt).
