The Silk Road : a new history

The Resource The Silk Road : a new history
Label
The Silk Road : a new history
Title remainder
a new history
Statement of responsibility
Valerie Hansen
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track, reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different -- and far more interesting -- as revealed in this new history. In The Silk Road, Valerie Hansen describes the archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes. Hansen explores seven oases along the road, from Xi'an to Samarkand, where merchants, envoys, pilgrims, and travelers mixed in cosmopolitan communities, tolerant of religions from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism. There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west. China's main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs. Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk. Perhaps most significant of all was the road's transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs
Cataloging source
DLC
Dewey number
950.1
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
DS33.1
LC item number
.H36 2012
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography

Context

Context of The Silk Road : a new history

Work of

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