These studies discuss and illustrate occupations that required physical labour and show how ordinary people in the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world "made a living". The volume includes essays on slaves and free labour in the ancient Near East, slaves and free labour in the Greco-Roman world, agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting and fishing, food preparation, water management, transportation, mining and quarrying, building and construction, timber and carpentry, metallurgy, ceramics, and spinning and weaving.