** slavery in ancient civilizations Egypt race








Slavery in Ancient Egypt: Race


Figure 1.--It is difficult to identify slaves in Egyptian art. In this case it seems obvious tht the men here are enslaved war captives from Nubia or slaves obtained through trade with Sub-Saharan Africa.

There does not appear to have been a racial component to Egyptian slavery. Many slaves did come from Nubia--the area south of Egypt. These would have been blacks, taken during wars with the people of the south. The Nile was a route of both commerce and war in a period when roads did not exist or were rudimentary. Thus Egyptian armies could move up the Nile and conquer the African people of the upper Nile--the Nubians. As war was a major source of slaves, military campaigns in one area of another may have temprarily affected the ethnicity of slaves during any given period. This same phenomenon was observed in Rome as well. Africans were not just slaves in Egypt. In fact, some pharoes appear to have had African features which probably meant they came from upper (southern) Egypt. This must have affected racvial attitutes. The African features of some pharoes was a fact ignored when Egyptology became a subject of great interest in the 19th centutry. Nubia was just one source of slaves for the Egyptians. Ancient Egypt was a great power and over time conducted military campaigns to the west, north, abnd east. Thus there was no racial component to the captives taken and the people thus ensalved.






HBC





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Created: 3:24 AM 9/4/2010
Last updated: 3:24 AM 9/4/2010