The Ancient Home
Working from Home
Before and during the Bronze Age, people began to transition from hunting and gathering or herding to agriculture and permanent settlements. This transition was gradual, and many people remained semi-nomadic. However, for those who did settle in one place, the home became the center of economic life. Some specialized in trades such as textiles or metalworking and traded with their neighbors for things they couldn’t make themselves – a system that continued all over the world until the Industrial Revolution.
Loom Weight
Woven Together
Think about the clothes you have on. Do you know where they were made, or even who made them? Most of the time, ancient people did.
For most of human history, making cloth has been a full-time job. It takes a lot of effort and time to spin, weave, sew, and tailor wool into clothing. These loom weights were likely used by ancient Near Eastern women to spin clean, carded wool into thread.
Professional textile workers began to specialize as fullers, weavers, or tailors in the middle of the Bronze Age, but this was far from the end of homemade clothing. Some Bedouin tribes in the Middle East today use looms that are very similar to their ancient counterparts.
Slightly Pinched Lip Oil Lamp
Four Equidistant Spouted Oil Lamp
Lights Out
Even with lamps like these, ancient people’s lives were governed by the sun. Simple lamps gave out the same amount of light as a single candle, and they only burned for an hour at most. Working in the dark was not only difficult, but expensive.
Lamps like these two would have had a cotton or flax wick and been fueled by oil, sesame, or castor oil. Early lamps were made by hand, but eventually they were made on potter’s wheels or using molds.
