Reconstructing the Byzantine sericulture practice

Despite the pivotal role of the silk industry in the history of the Byzantine Empire, our knowledge of Byzantine sericulture (the cultivation of silkworms), the industry's fundamental component, remains limited and relies heavily on other better-documented sericulture practices. It is often ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wu, Gang (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: De Gruyter 2023
In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift
Year: 2023, Volume: 116, Issue: 3, Pages: 1013-1034
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Summary:Despite the pivotal role of the silk industry in the history of the Byzantine Empire, our knowledge of Byzantine sericulture (the cultivation of silkworms), the industry's fundamental component, remains limited and relies heavily on other better-documented sericulture practices. It is often assumed that Byzantine sources offer little information about sericulture and that the Byzantines lacked distinctiveness in their treatment of silkworms. This article challenges this prevailing view by reconstructing the Byzantine sericulture practice based on Byzantine textual sources. It concludes with a general and diachronic overview of the practice, shedding light on many aspects that have been overlooked or misunderstood in previous scholarship. Furthermore, it explores how this reconstructed picture can contribute to future studies on the Byzantine silk industry.
ISSN:1868-9027
Contains:Enthalten in: Byzantinische Zeitschrift
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/bz-2023-0042