THE HISTORY OF SILK metaxi IN EUROPE . Stefanos Sotiriou, historian

From the Cradle of China to the First Fashion Houses of the West ***** Part I: The Origins and Spread of Silk China — The Earliest Evidence and Documentation • Archaeological evidence: Silk fiber proteins have been identified in burials in central China that may date back as far as 8,500 years ago (around 6000 BC). (history.com) • Systematic sericulture: The documented domestication of the silkworm (Bombyx mori) began approximately 5,000–4,000 years ago, during the 3rd–2nd millennium BC. (history.com) • Historical sources: Classical texts and encyclopedic references place the beginnings of sericulture before the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, approximately between 2700 and 2500 BC. (britannica.com) The First Spread Beyond China • Japan: According to traditional chronology, sericulture had been introduced into Japan by approximately AD 300. (en.wikipedia.org) • The Byzantine Empire / Mediterranean: Historical sources report that two Nestorian Byzantine monks (most likely Persian Christians, although Nestorians may also have been Arabs, Greeks, or, less likely, Indians, since their ethnicity is not explicitly recorded) transported silkworm eggs to Constantinople around AD 552, thereby inaugurating local silk production. (en.wikipedia.org) The Middle East and Europe Before Sericulture