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The Silk Road [a] was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. [1] Spanning over 6,400 km (4,000 mi), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds.
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The Silk Road may have formally opened up trade between the Far East and Europe during the Han Dynasty, which ruled China from 206 B.C. to A.D. 220 Han Emperor Wu sent imperial envoy Zhang Qian to make contact with cultures in Central Asia in 138 B.C., and his reports from his journeys conveyed valuable information about the people and lands that l...
The east-west trade routes between Greece and China began to open during the first and second centuries B.C. The Roman Empireand the Kushan Empire (which ruled territory in what is now northern India) also benefitted from the commerce created by the route along the Silk Road. Interestingly, the ancient Greek word for China is “Seres,” which literal...
The Silk Road routes included a large network of strategically located trading posts, markets and thoroughfares designed to streamline the transport, exchange, distribution and storage of goods. Routes extended from the Greco-Roman metropolis of Antioch across the Syrian Desert via Palmyrato Ctesiphon (the Parthian capital) and Seleucia on the Tigr...
Even though the name “Silk Road” derives from the popularity of Chinese silk among tradesmen in the Roman Empire and elsewhere in Europe, the material was not the only important export from the East to the West. Trade along the so-called Silk Road economic belt included fruits and vegetables, livestock, grain, leather and hides, tools, religious ob...
In addition, the rich spices of the East quickly became popular in the West, and changed cuisine across much of Europe. Similarly, techniques for making glass migrated eastward to China from the Islamic world. The origins of gunpowderare less well known, although there are references to fireworks and firearms in China as early as the 600s. Historia...
The Silk Road routes also opened up means of passage for explorers seeking to better understand the culture and geography of the Far East. Venetian explorer Marco Polofamously used the Silk Road to travel from Italy to China, which was then under the control of the Mongolian Empire, where they arrived in 1275. Notably, they did not travel by boat, ...
Silk Road: Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient.eu. List of Rulers of Ancient Greece. Metmuseum.org. Trade between the Romans and the Empires of Asia. Metmuseum.org. About the Silk Road: UNESCO. En.unesco.org. The Legacy of the Silk Road. Yale University. China’s Gift to the West. Columbia University. The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Edited ...
Learn about the Silk Road, a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe. Discover how the Silk Road influenced commerce, culture and history with goods such as silk, paper, spices and gunpowder.
4 days ago · Learn about the ancient trade route that connected China with the West and exchanged goods and ideas. Explore the geography, history, and culture of the Silk Road and its modern revival.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Feb 9, 2024 · Learn about the history, geography, and culture of the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that connected Asia and Europe for over 1,500 years. Discover the goods, ideas, and innovations that traveled along the Silk Road and shaped the world.
May 1, 2018 · Learn about the ancient trade network that linked the regions of the ancient world from 130 BCE to 1453 CE. Discover the goods, cultures, and civilizations that traveled along the Silk Road and its branches.
- Joshua J. Mark
Learn about the Silk Roads, the ancient trade networks that connected Asia, Europe and Africa for centuries. Discover how silk, knowledge, ideas, cultures and beliefs were exchanged along these routes, and how they shaped the history and civilizations of the Eurasian peoples.
Mar 14, 2023 · Learn how the Silk Road started as a Chinese trade route and evolved into a vast network of land and sea connections across Asia and Europe. Find out why the Silk Road trade declined and eventually disappeared after centuries of cultural exchange and political turmoil.
