Slavery was a fact of life throughout the ancient world. Slaves, or more properly, enslaved people—meaning persons defined as property, forced to work, stripped of their rights, and socially “dead”—could be found in virtually every significant realm of the age. In China, the Qin, Han, and Xin dynasties enforced various forms of slavery; so too did ancient rulers of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and India.
