Exporting Silk from Byzantine Greece

The silk industry that thrived in Thebes around the twelfth century exemplified Byzantium’s industrial accomplishments during the middle Byzantine period. However, how its silk products were exported still awaits systematic clarification. This topic becomes increasingly compelling as scholars begin to reveal the industry’s potential interactions with other regional economic sectors, especially pottery production in Euripos, in terms of trade logistics. This article aims to contribute a thorough investigation into the trade logistics of the Theban silk industry. It argues that Theban silk could have been distributed to its market destinations entirely overland or by integrating with maritime transport at nearby entrepôts. Initially, Corinth, with its two ports oriented towards trade hubs in the east and west, served as the paramount entrepôt. As Corinth’s maritime trade, especially its eastern port, declined in the later twelfth century, Euripos emerged to bridge the gap and assumed its former trade roles

Ancient history · Business · Byzantine architecture · SILK · Telecommunications · Ancient Near East History · Engineering · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts