The Silk Road
The Silk Road is the world’s oldest trade route. It brought silk, spices and porcelain, but also ideas and religions, from Asia to Europe. The rise of sea travel saw the decline of the land links, but now China is planning a new Silk Road.
Resources
- The Silk Road | National Geographic Research Library
Encyclopedia article about the Silk Road with a collection of interactive resources.
- UNESCO Silk Roads Programme
Information and maps about traveling the Silk Roads.
- Marco Polo - History.com
A description of Marco Polo's travels along the Silk Road.
- DK Findout! | The Silk Road Ancient Chinese Trade
Interactive map and information about the Silk Road.
- Asia Society - The Silk Road a Larger View
Learn more about the history and cultures of the Silk Road.
- The Silk Road and Ancient Trade: Crash Course World History #9
John Green teaches you about the Silk Road, a network of trade routes where goods such were exchanged across the ancient world, from China to the West.
- ECAI Silk Road Atlas
A collection of interactive atlases detailing routes of the Silk Road.
- China Highlights - Ancient Silk Road Map
Maps of the Ancient Silk Road and five dynasties.
- World Map - The Silk Road
This map shows various routes and locations along the ancient Silk Road, with layers to examine the interactions of various aspects of physical and cultural geography pertaining to it. Clicking on routes and locations will reveal information and links.
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BBC - The Silk Road
On the trade routes which spanned Asia for over a thousand years, carrying Buddhism to China and paper-making and gunpowder westwards -
BBC - A History of the World: The Silk Road and Beyond (AD 400-800)
Explores the world along and beyond the Silk Road in the 7th century AD at a time when the teachings of the prophet Muhammad were transforming the Middle East -
The Silk Road Bibliography
Compiled by Joseph A. Adler at Kenyon College for his class on the Silk Road -
Silk Road Seattle
A public educational project sponsored primarily by the University of Washington's Simpson Center for the Humanities. Provides digital materials for learning and teaching about the Silk Road -- historical texts, historic sites, cultures, bibliographies, atlases, and art exhibits -
The Silkroad Foundation
Provides maps, article abstracts, photographs, time-lines and other resources and links to information on the Silk Road, Inner and Central Asia -
The Silk Roads: An Education Resource, from Education About Asia
Many research recommendations by Morris Rossabi, on both general and specific eras, including many classic works on the silk roads -
The Silk Roads: Early Globalization and Chinese Cultural Identities
Bibliography of relevant works by presenters at the East-West Center's 2010 NEH Summer Institute
Travel the Silk Road with Google Earth
"Designating the sea routes as "silk road" is original research - the term silk road denotes only the land routes and only those roads between the Med and China running in west-east direction, not those going from the west and east of India northwards." This information provided by the author of the derivative work. Red is land and blue is sea route.
