Date: 1830s

In a village near Damascus Thomas Skinner (d. 1843) saw silk weavers twisting coloured silk threads alongside the roads … read more

Date: 1750s-1770s

Vast numbers of people were employed in the weaving of silk, with looms being located in large factories as well as in private houses. Much of the silk thread was spun by women … read more

Date: fourteenth century

Italian traveler Simone Sigoli noted that Damascus had silk textiles of ‘every kind and colour, the most beautiful and best in the world’. These were sold in well-ordered and stocked shops of the city, and foreigners … read more

Date: early twentieth century

During her visit to Homs, notable traveler Gertrude Bell found that there is a loom in every house, where a weaver was weaving striped silk which the city is famous for. Throughout the streets of Homs, stretched silken yarns … read more