Alkahest
Banned
The slaves imported via the trans-Atlantic slave trade were mostly male, as strong men were in high demand for physically straining plantation labor. Based on this, it would seem sensible to assume that earlier cultures would also have preferred male slaves.
However, that's not the impression I get from reading about those societies. The Arab slave trade mostly involved female slaves. Reading Homer, we learn that the women of Troy were enslaved while the men were killed. In Ireland, the main unit of currency before money was the cumal, or female slave, not the mug.
Would it be accurate to say that most slave-owning societies before the New World plantation economies preferred female slaves to males? In which cultures were most slaves men, and in which were most women? And why?
However, that's not the impression I get from reading about those societies. The Arab slave trade mostly involved female slaves. Reading Homer, we learn that the women of Troy were enslaved while the men were killed. In Ireland, the main unit of currency before money was the cumal, or female slave, not the mug.
Would it be accurate to say that most slave-owning societies before the New World plantation economies preferred female slaves to males? In which cultures were most slaves men, and in which were most women? And why?