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Zigazig_ahhhh t1_iwbf67l wrote

Reply to comment by Rear-gunner in Slaves were brutally branded in ancient Egypt, research shows by Rear-gunner

So there's no actual evidence? It's just someone saying, "Hey, these cattle brands are really small, and they look like human brands from thousands of years later and from a different region of the world."

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pgm123 t1_iwbuxbr wrote

>So there's no actual evidence

The actual evidence is that texts say enslaved people were marked. It cites arguments that tattooing in Egypt was religious (so less likely for slaves) and the branding irons appearing to be better fitted for humans. But the primary evidence is the fact that enslaved people were marked.

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Mindless_Challenge11 t1_iwbiupr wrote

Well what's the evidence that these ancient egyptian branding irons were intended for use on cattle in the first place? Genuinely curious here if anyone knows the answer!

(After all, comparing the evidence we have for their different possible uses would be the best way to evaluate the strength of this argument. For instance, if we had extant cow hides bearing brand-marks that matched the patterns on some of the irons, or visual depictions of branded cattle, or textual descriptions of people branding cattle using branding irons, that would be pretty strong evidence for that form of use.)

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[deleted] t1_iwbg8fz wrote

I don't think it's that much of an unreasonable conclusion

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Zigazig_ahhhh t1_iwbj1ci wrote

It's a perfectly reasonable conjecture. It is definitely an unreasonable conclusion.

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Rear-gunner OP t1_iwblo28 wrote

It's a likely possibility

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Zigazig_ahhhh t1_iwbo0m3 wrote

Yes, but the way the article presents it as a fact is disingenuous.

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Lindvaettr t1_iwci9p6 wrote

It is a possibility. "Likely" adds too much implication of "more probable than other possibilities", which doesn't seem to be supported by the evidence presented.

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YouAreGenuinelyDumb t1_iwbzd4f wrote

It’s all circumstantial evidence, but that’s often as good as it gets with ancient history.

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Iertjepapiertje t1_iwc09f3 wrote

Not with the Romans or the Chinese, for example. Plenty of cultures kept records.

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LateInTheAfternoon t1_iwc1wkd wrote

There are plenty of lacunae for those two civilizations as well despite what has survived. For certain times the dearth of sources is almost complete and mere conjecture the best that can be offered.

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