"The Silk Road (Chinese: 絲綢之路) was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century."
Study the major trade routes in the ancient world, like the Silk Road, Amber Road, Incense Route, and Spice Route, and analyze how they shaped the economic and cultural exchange between civilizations.
Geography of the ancient world: The physical geography of the regions in which ancient trade routes developed, including bodies of water, mountains, deserts, and other natural features that influenced trade development.
Trade network and routes: An understanding of the various trade routes that connected different regions during ancient times, including the Silk Road, maritime routes, trans-Saharan routes, and others.
Cartography and mapping: The history of cartography and the development of accurate maps that allowed ancient traders to navigate the trade routes.
The role of merchants: The importance of merchants and trading networks in the development and maintenance of trade routes, including the emergence of powerful trading empires and cities.
Technology and trade: The impact of technological advances on trade, such as the development of new transportation methods, writing systems and accounting practices.
Trade goods and commodities: The various goods and commodities traded across ancient trade routes, including luxury goods, food items and raw materials.
Cultural exchange: The cultural exchanges and diffusion of ideas that took place along the trade routes, including the spread of religions, technologies, and artistic styles.
Consequences of trade: The consequences of trade in ancient times, including economic and political developments, as well as possible environmental and social impacts.
Modern-day trade routes: The modern-day legacy of ancient trade routes and how they continue to shape global trade and commerce.
Archaeological evidence: The use of archaeological evidence to reconstruct ancient trade networks, including artifacts, trade-related architecture, and documentation.
Silk Road: A network of trade routes connecting China, India, and Europe through the Middle East.
Incense Route: A trade network that transported frankincense and myrrh from South Arabia to the Mediterranean.
Amber Road: An ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean.
Spice Route: A network of sea routes that connected the East and West, and facilitated the trade of spices between the Mediterranean and the Far East.
Salt Road: A trade route that specialized in the transportation of salt from areas close to salt mines to markets around the world.
Indian Ocean Trade Route: A network of maritime trade routes that connected the coastal regions of East Africa, Arabia, India, Southeast Asia, and China.
Maritime Silk Road: An underwater route for trade between China and India, the Arabian Peninsula, and East Africa.
Trans-Saharan Trade Route: A land-based trading network that linked North Africa to the West African savanna through the Sahara Desert.
Northern Route Trade: An ancient trade route linking North and Central China to Eastern Europe via Siberia.
Tea Horse Road: A trading network for the transportation of tea and horses across the mountainous terrain of Yunnan in Southwest China.
"Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles)..."
"...it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West."
"The name 'Silk Road', first coined in the late 19th century, has fallen into disuse among some modern historians in favor of Silk Routes..."
"Chinese silk textiles... tea, dyes, perfumes, porcelain... horses, camels, honey, wine, and gold."
"The network began with the Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE... The Parthian Empire provided a bridge to East Africa and the Mediterranean."
"By the early first century CE, Chinese silk was widely sought-after in Rome, Egypt, and Greece."
"Aside from generating substantial wealth for emerging mercantile classes, the proliferation of goods such as paper and gunpowder greatly altered the trajectory of various realms, if not world history."
"Travelers faced constant threats of banditry and nomadic raiders, and long expanses of inhospitable terrain."
"Few individuals crossed the entirety of the Silk Road, instead relying on a succession of middlemen based at various stopping points along the way."
"In addition to goods, the network facilitated an unprecedented exchange of ideas, religions (especially Buddhism), philosophies, and scientific discoveries..."
"Diseases such as plague also spread along the Silk Road, possibly contributing to the Black Death."
"...the Silk Road abruptly lost its importance with the rise of the Ottoman Empire in 1453, which almost immediately severed trade between East and West."
"This prompted European efforts to seek alternative routes to Eastern riches, thereby ushering the Age of Discovery, European colonialism, and a more intensified process of globalization..."
"...the name 'New Silk Road' is used to describe several large infrastructure projects along many of the historic trade routes; among the best known include the Eurasian Land Bridge and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)."
"In June 2014, UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site..." Study question 17: Which portion of the Silk Road remains on the tentative site list? "While the Indian portion remains on the tentative site list."
"[The Silk Road] endured the rise and fall of numerous empires and major events such as the Black Death and the Mongol conquests."
"...on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and Southern Europe."
"During its roughly 1,500 years of existence, the Silk Road..."