THE WEALTH OF THE NILE -- THE CULTURE AND ECONOMY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The practice of slavery was practically ubiquitous in ancient times. In Egypt it was seemingly less harsh and widespread than in other societies. Still, some branches of the economy like mining [2] depended to some extent on the labour and expendability of slaves, above all during the New Kingdom, when warfare and trade greatly increased the number of enslaved foreigners.

[2] Quarrying on the other hand was always done by Egyptian craftsmen supported by draftees to perform the unskilled labour and soldiers for protection, generally in the form of expeditions.

Slaves were captured or bought from the Levant, from Nubia and further south. This trade in humans was apparently of insignificant proportions.

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