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How The Secret to Silk Was Smuggled Out of China

Everything Everywhere Daily

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The Silk Industry of the Byzantine Empire

Two Nestorian Christian monks were able to observe the entire silk making process in China. They returned to Constantinople and told Justinian their story of how they had come to know where silk came from. The emperor promised them that if they could bring silkworms back to Constantinople, they would be well rewarded. It took about two years, but the monks returned with the beginnings of what would become a new silk industry.

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