The Bible refers to the superior quality of wool sold in the ancient city of Damascus. The ancient peoples of the Caucasian peninsula wore woolen robes called shal, from which the word shawl is derived. Sheep were raised for fiber, as well as for meat and leather, throughout the Mediterranean area. Sicily and southern Italy provided wool for clothing in Rome until the time of the Roman Empire, when fabrics of silk, imported from China, became fashionable. The finest wool came from merino sheep, raised in Spain by the Basque people, whose reputation as the most able sheepherders in the world continues to the present day
Subsequently, the Belgians became skillful in producing fine-quality wool textiles and taught their art to the Saxons in Britain, who also became noted for their fine woolen fabrics.