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Slavery in the ancient world

Slavery in the ancient world, from the earliest known recorded evidence in Sumer to the pre medieval Antiquity Mediterranean cultures, comprised a mixture of debt slavery, slavery as a punishment for crime, and the enslavement of prisoners of war. Masters could free slaves, and in many cases, such freedmen went on to rise to positions of power. This would include those children born into slavery, but who were actually the children of the master of the house. The slave master would ensure that his children were not condemned to a life of slavery. The institution of slavery condemned a majority of slaves to agricultural and industrial labor, and they lived hard lives. In many of these cultures, slaves formed a very large part of the economy, and in particular the Roman Empire and some of the Greek poleis built a large part of their wealth on slaves acquired through conquest.

The Code of Ur Nammu, the oldest known surviving law code, written c. 2100 – 2050 BCE, includes laws relating to slaves during the Third Dynasty of Ur in Sumerian Mesopotamia. It states that a slave that marries cannot be forced to leave the household, and that the bounty for returning a slave who has escaped the city is two shekels. It reveals that there were at least two major social strata at the time: those free, and those enslaved. The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, written between 1755–1750 BC, also distinguishes between the free and the enslaved. Like the Code of Ur Nammu, it offers a reward of two shekels for returning a fugitive slave, but unlike the other code, states that harbouring or assisting a fugitive was punishable by death. Slaves were either bought abroad, taken as prisoners in war, or enslaved as a punishment for being in debt or committing a crime. The Code of Hammurabi states that if a slave is purchased and within one month develops epilepsy ("benu disease") then the purchaser can return the slave and receive a full refund. The code has laws relating to the purchase of slaves abroad. Numerous contracts for the sale of slaves survive. The final law in the Code of Hammurabi states that if a slave denies his master, then his ear will be cut off. Hittite texts from Anatolia include laws regulating the institution of slavery. Of particular interest is a law stipulating that reward for the capture of an escaped slave would be higher if the slave had already succeeded in crossing the Halys River and getting farther away from the center of Hittite civilization — from which it can be concluded that at least some of the slaves kept by the Hittites possessed a realistic chance of escaping and regaining their freedom, possibly by finding refuge with other kingdoms or ethnic groups.

In the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), there are many references to slaves, including rules of how they should behave and be treated. Slavery is viewed as routine, as an ordinary part of society. During jubilees, slaves were to be released, according to the Book of Leviticus. Israelite slaves were also to be released during their seventh year of service, according to the Deuteronomic Code. Non Hebrew slaves and their offspring were the perpetual property of the owner's family, with limited exceptions. The Curse of Ham is an important passage related to slavery. It has been noted that the slavery in the Bible differs greatly from Roman and modern slavery in that slaves mentioned in the Old Testament received sexual protection and enough food, and were not chained, tortured or physically abused. In the New Testament, slaves are told to obey their owners, who are in turn told to "stop threatening" their slaves. The Epistle to Philemon has many implications related to slavery.

Rome differed from Greek city states in allowing freed slaves to become Roman citizens. After manumission, a slave who had belonged to a citizen enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom (libertas), including the right to vote, though he could not run for public office. During the Republic, Roman military expansion was a major source of slaves. Besides manual labor, slaves performed many domestic services, and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Teachers, accountants, and physicians were often slaves. Greek slaves in particular might be highly educated. Unskilled slaves, or those condemned to slavery as punishment, worked on farms, in mines, and at mills.