SLAVES
At the very bottom of the social ladder were the slaves. Every ancient people possessed them. At first they were prisoners of war, who, instead of being slaughtered, were made to labor for their masters. At a later period people unable to pay their debts often became slaves. The treatment of slaves depended on the character of the master. A cruel and overbearing owner might make life a burden for his bondmen. Escape was rarely possible. Slaves were branded like cattle to prevent their running away. Hammurabi's code [2] imposed the death penalty on anybody who aided or concealed the fugitives. There was plenty of work for the slaves to perform—repairing dikes, digging irrigation canals, and erecting vast palaces and temples. The servile class in Egypt was not as numerous as in Babylonia, and slavery itself seems to have assumed there a somewhat milder form.
[Illustration: TRANSPORT OF AN ASSYRIAN COLOSSUS A slab from a gallery of Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh. The immense block is being pulled forward by slaves, who work under the lash.]
14. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
FARMING
Such fruitful, well-watered valleys as those of the Nile and the Euphrates encouraged agricultural life. Farming was the chief occupation. Working people, whether slaves or freemen, were generally cultivators of the soil. All the methods of agriculture are pictured for us on the monuments. We mark the peasant as he breaks up the earth with a hoe or plows a shallow furrow with a sharp-pointed stick. We see the sheep being driven across sown fields to trample the seed into the moist soil. We watch the patient laborers as with hand sickles they gather in the harvest and then with heavy flails separate the chaff from the grain. Although their methods were very clumsy, ancient farmers raised immense crops of wheat and barley. The soil of Egypt and Babylonia not only supported a dense population, but also supplied food for neighboring peoples. These two lands were the granaries of the East.
[Illustration: PLOWING AND SOWING IN ANCIENT EGYPT]
MANUFACTURING
Many industries of to-day were known in ancient Egypt and Babylonia. There were blacksmiths, carpenters, stonecutters, workers in ivory, silver, and gold, weavers, potters, and glass blowers. The creations of these ancient craftsmen often exhibit remarkable skill. Egyptian linens were so wonderfully fine and transparent as to merit the name of "woven air." Babylonian tapestries, carpets, and rugs enjoyed a high reputation for beauty of design and color. Egyptian glass with its waving lines of different hues was much prized. Precious stones were made into beads, necklaces, charms, and seals. The precious metals were employed for a great variety of ornaments. Egyptian paintings show the goldsmiths at work with blowpipe and forceps, fashioning bracelets, rings, and diadems, inlaying objects of stone and wood, or covering their surfaces with fine gold leaf. The manufacture of tiles and glazed pottery was everywhere carried on. Babylonia is believed to be the original home of porcelain. Enameled bricks found there are unsurpassed by the best products of the present day.