SILK, originally spun only in China, 

was gradually traded as far west as Persia, before Medieval rulers managed to acquire silkworms and mulberry trees to set up their own silk industries - in Lebanon, in the Byzantine Empire and much later in Europe. 
The trading routes from China to the Mediterranean and into Europe soon became known as the Silk Roads as silk was the main product. Valued for its lustre and texture, silk rapidly became a symbol of luxury, wealth, power and social status. It was...