The Silk Road is as iconic in world History as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal.
The Silk Road is a fascinating story of archeological discovery, cultural transmission, and the intricate chains across Central Asia and China..
Perhaps most significant of all was the road\'s transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic motifs.
Silk was not the most important good on the road; paper, invented in China before Julius Caesar was born, had a bigger impact in Europe, while metals, spices, and glass were just as important as silk.
China\'s main partners were the peoples of modern-day Iran, whose tombs in China reveal much about their Zoroastrian beliefs.
China and the Roman Empire had very little direct trade.
There was no single, continuous road, but a chain of markets that traded between east and west.
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.
But the sands of the Taklamakan Desert have revealed fascinating material, sometimes preserved by illiterate locals who recycled official documents to make insoles for shoes or garments for the dead.
For centuries, key records remained hidden--sometimes deliberately buried by bureaucrats for safe keeping.
In The Silk Road , Valerie Hansen describes the remarkable archeological finds that revolutionize our understanding of these trade routes.
The reality was different--and far more interesting--as revealed in this new history.
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 Silk Road is as iconic in world History as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal
