Prompt Cast
The Origins of Slavery: Challenging the Standard Narrative
TLDR The origins of slavery do not coincide with the rise of large kingdoms and empires, as evidence suggests that early cities were actually egalitarian and societies have flourished without extreme inequality or slavery. Ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt had complex labor systems and evidence of both inequality and cooperation, challenging the idea that slavery was a central feature of their economies.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
In the first episode of a new series on slavery, the host introduces a special guest, David Wengrow, who challenges the standard narrative that civilization and the rise of power inevitably lead to the exploitation and enslavement of others.
05:09
The origins of slavery do not coincide with the rise of large kingdoms and empires, as evidence from archaeology and anthropology suggests that early cities were actually egalitarian and societies have flourished without extreme inequality or slavery.
10:09
The stone temples in Louisiana were likely used for cosmological beliefs and rituals, suggesting that the society had sufficient resources and engaged in scientific observations and engineering feats even before the development of cities or farming.
15:01
The earliest example of indiscriminate treatment of human remains dates back 6,000 years ago in a site called Tel Majnuna in Syria, suggesting a possible attitude towards slaves; the Sumerians, who were the first people to think of human labor in abstract terms and had a word for physical work, also had slaves but they were small in number and mostly household servants or debt slaves who could achieve manumission.
20:11
In ancient Mesopotamia, slavery was not a central feature of the economy, and instead, labor for monumental construction projects like building temples and maintaining irrigation systems was provided through a system called corvée, where free people owed work to the king or city guards for a certain amount of time each year.
24:54
In ancient Mesopotamia, while there were slaves and unequal societies, there were also instances of a different kind of society where people worked together for the common good, and women could hold high positions of status and power.
29:55
The prevailing idea that the Great Pyramids of Egypt were built by slave labor has changed in recent decades, as there is no direct evidence for this and archaeology has uncovered a workers' town near the pyramids that housed the laborers who built them.
34:59
The prevailing idea that the Great Pyramids of Egypt were built by slave labor has changed in recent decades, as there is no direct evidence for this and archaeology has uncovered a workers' town near the pyramids that housed the laborers who built them, and the workers enjoyed a high standard of living with access to things like bakeries, breweries, and meat from royal livestock pens, suggesting a more complex and varied workforce.
40:01
During the first dynasty and part of the second dynasty of ancient Egypt, there was a phenomenon of people being buried or sacrificed to be buried with their masters or mistresses, but this practice belonged to the very early stages of the Egyptian state.
45:03
During the early Egyptian dynasties, high-ranking individuals such as royal wives, guards, officials, cooks, grooms, and entertainers were killed and buried around the king or queen, suggesting a mixture of blood relatives and skilled individuals were taken into the court; in addition, the mass killings and rituals created a terrifying equivalence between all of them.
50:06
The Indus Valley civilization, which emerged in the third millennium BC, had a highly planned settlement with evidence of tens of thousands of people living in a city, but there is no evidence of a ruling class or aristocracy, and no evidence of conflict or warfare; instead, the highest point of civic life seems to be a structure associated with washing and purity, potentially indicating an early form of the caste system.
Categories:
History
