Sheep that Changed the World
Wool Through the Ages�
Sheep that Changed the World
Long before there was anything else to clothe ourselves in , there was — you guessed it — wool . It is a story that takes us across the centuries ; a resource that has travelled continents and inspired trade embargoes and wars . Did the placid sheep really change the world …?
At top : An ancient Egyptian frieze showing a shepherd and his flock ; above : a fragment of Roman wall painting depicting shepherds and sheep . Wool production was a major industry in the Roman Empire .
What was the most important step in civilization ? Well , it has been said that it was when we began capturing wild sheep , domesticating them and breeding them .
Sheep were also the mainstay of many ancient cultures , by far the most important of the domesticated animals . Able to survive almost anywhere , over-wintering successfully , they provided not just milk , meat and skin , but warm clothing . This is why so many of the earliest gods and their myths are sheep related , from the Egyptian Ra ( ram ) to the later Christian Lamb of God .
But sheep have not only sustained us for thousands of years ; sheep farming also underpinned the growth of European nation states , international trade and modern economies .
Sheep and wool spread to Europe between 3000 bc and 1000 bc through ancient Greece . During the next thousand years , Greeks , Romans and Persians contributed to improvements in sheep breeds . The Romans were responsible for the spread of sheep to North Africa and Europe .
The Merino , the sheep producing the finest diameter wool fibre , is said to have descended from a strain developed during the reign of the Emperor Claudius , 41 to 54 ad . The Merino breed resulted from a crossing of the Tarentine sheep of Rome with the Laodician sheep of Asia Minor by breeders in the province of Hispania Terraconenis in Spain .
In the 12th Century , when the Merino sheep arrived in Spain , the line was cultivated and refined — and it thrived . It became a prized royal flock whose wool was widely used in soldiers ’ uniforms and as a mark of wealth and privilege in luxury clothing .
By the 18th century , Merino wool was a precious commodity , coveted throughout Europe in much the same way as gold . For more than 400 years , the Spanish govern-
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