The Highways of Ancient Times

It is remarkable how many different trade routes were used to connect ancient civilizations other than the notorious silk road. Not only were mere goods traded in ancient times, but ideas and religion began to spread as a result of trade connections as well. I have found a few sites that provide great information about various trade routes, the commodities traded over such routes, and the history of religions that spread as a result of trade in ancient times.



The Ambassador Road crossed over China from the east coast to present day Burma. It started as a dirt path made by Chinese peasants in order to communicate with distant villages.

The Appian Way and the Egnation Way were sea and land routes that connected the Roman Empire and the Middle East. It is said to have been constructed to more efficiently move people and armies throughout the Roman Empire.

The Incense Road was a trade route that, as you may have guessed, was largely used for transporting incense. It connected Egypt with the Indies by taking a land route over Arabia because the Red Sea was considered very dangerous for travel due to shallow waters, uncharted rocks, and pirates.

Roman and Indian trade also occurred, not by means of a specific trade route, but by various forms of transportation. Merchants traveled from Rome to Egypt and then to India to trade precious items by means of numerous land and sea paths, depending on weather conditions and the time of year.

There are also many trade routes over bodies of water such as the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the China Sea. These ancient water routes came to be known as the Maritime Sea Route. The following site about the Maritime Sea Routes is my favorite because it is incredibly informative and interactive. The site has so many links for information about what was traded over specific bodies of water that one could spend hours looking it over.

The goods traded along ancient trade routes were often metals and they varied widely along with their purpose or use. Although, raw metals were of very little use to ancient people, and they therefore had to undergo a series of transformations to make different goods and weapons. Metallurgy, annealing, and smelting, are all processes that involve working with heated metal in order to achieve a goal. A site describing how ancient people worked with metals in these ways can be found here.

Copper was one of the very first metals to be used by humans. It was originally used for decorative purposes and to embellish clothing.

Bronze was first used for decorative means as well, but it was found to be more malleable than copper and was highly valued.

Iron was more plentiful than bronze in ancient times, but it was not used until later because it has a much higher melting point. Early furnaces could not achieve a high enough temperature to allow the workers to rid the metal of all its impurities. Iron eventually lead to the use of steel, which had an enormous impact on ancient civilizations.

Salt was also widely traded in ancient times because the human body requires it. With the rise of agriculture, early humans began eating less meat and therefore were consuming less and less salt in their regular diet.

Religions such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism were spread largely as a result of ancient trading networks. This site provides a useful history of where each religion originated, and how they began to spread. There are also many links within the site that lead to even more detailed information.

Image from:
http://www.releasing.net/featurefilmproduction/1/heavens.htm

Shipwrecks: Under the Sea

Walk into any retail store today and look at the tag on an item, and you will very likely find that it was produced in China. Many people think of China as a relatively new player on the world market, but China’s role as an influential trading partner is not a new phenomenon. During the first century C.E., trade among China, Europe, and Africa expanded over a growing network of silk roads. Trading occurred not only across the Eurasian landmass but also across the seas. The Indian Ocean was integrally linked to the South China Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Strategically located coastal cities along the major sea routes across these oceans became wealthy from handling and taxing trade goods. One can gain a basic understanding of the maritime trade routes from an encyclopedia or a world history book, but I am curious about the information historians use to understand trade networks.

One way historians develop hypotheses about these early maritime trade networks is from the study of marine archaeology. Ancient shipwrecks are excellent sources of information about the items traded between ancient empires. Until modern technology made it possible to reach and retrieve items under great depths of water, many of the artifacts on the ships were preserved from looting and dispersal from the rest of the ship’s cargo. This allows marine archaeologists to study the artifacts contextually with all of the other items found on the ships (unlike many artifacts on land where looting has removed them from their original location and where evidence may not be available to link them back to their origins). Recent shipwreck discoveries have led to an even greater understanding of the trade that occurred across the Indian Ocean between the Chinese, African, and Mediterranean cultures. The following links provide information on some of the recent shipwrecks discovered in and near the Indian Ocean.

Nanhai 1: This shipwreck in the South China Sea was discovered 1987 and recovery of the ship, along with its surrounding silt, began in 2007. The ship, built during the Song dynasty (960-1279), is thought to contain over 70,000 artifacts from this time period including porcelain, gold, and silver. Chinese archaeologists will excavate the ship in an underwater storage tank on a nearby beach so as to preserve the surrounding sediments. Keeping the sediments underneath and around the ship may lead to new discoveries also.

Quanzhou: The NOVA (PBS television series) website describes this shipwreck and gives background on Chinese trade during successive dynasties. This shipwreck was not found in the ocean, rather it was discovered as the Houzhou Canal in Fujian Province was being dredged. The artifacts found on this ship include copper coins, fragrant wood from Southeast Asia, assorted materials from Somalia, and provisions for the sailors on the ship. The NOVA site also describes the Brunei shipwreck discovered off the coast of South Korea where over 16,000 items and 7 million brass coins were found. Both of these discoveries attest to the diversity of trade among peoples and the riches that empires could enjoy.

Tanjung Simpang: This wreck is described by Nahai Marine Archaeology, a private organization that excavates and sells the artifacts they find. The Tanjung Simpang shipwreck site is located only 400 meters from the shore of Sabah in Malaysian waters. The artifacts discovered include pottery, pottery shards, and Chinese gongs from the Song dynastic era. Unfortunately, looting plagued the site after its discovery because it was so close to shore. The artifacts from this site are not as intact as at other sites because of the looting and because of the rough surf on coral reefs, most of the artifacts were found interspersed among the reef.

Source: Beaujard, Philippe, and S Fee. " The Indian Ocean in Eurasian and African World-Systems before the Sixteenth Century ." Journal of World History 16.4 (2005): 411-65. Web. JSTOR. Zumber Library, Grand Valley State University. 28 Oct. 2009 .

The Legacy of the Silk Road

I grew up in a small rural town in west central Indiana where my history classes always focused on world history from a western perspective. Although we knew vaguely of the histories of China and India, we never studied the relationship between empires of the east and west before the time of Columbus. I am currently reading a book about Genghis Khan for my critical book review. This legendary leader conquered much of the Eurasian landmass during the thirteenth century CE, established the Mongol Empire, and controlled trading between East and West. Last week, while reading about the Roman and Han empires, I discovered that more than a thousand years before the rise of the Mongol Empire, these two ancient empires were already using the same trade routes to exchange goods across the continent.
The German geographer, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, coined the term “silk road” in nineteenth century to describe the multitude of trade routes across central Asia that linked China to the Mediterranean world. The Silk Road was the precursor to modern international trade, but merchants rarely, if ever, traveled the full length of the route. Pastoral people of the central Asian steppes facilitated trade between agrarian societies. It was the Silk Road that spread goods, ideas, diseases, and people across the Eurasian landmass. Silk was only one of many goods that moved between different civilizations such as the Roman Empire and Han Empire in China, but, due to its luxurious texture and brilliant coloring, it became the iconic item that symbolized the trade route. The Silk Road is a modern term, and to the westerner it carries with it a sense of mystery, romance, and adventure that modern western people associate with the Orient. Other things that traveled the Silk Road included carpets, metals, ceramics, fur, livestock, art, and religion, as well as people with their genes, immunities and diseases. Trade was facilitated when rulers of nations promoted and protected traders traveling within their territories, and, although empires rose and fell across Eurasia, trade continued. While learning about the Silk Road and exploring the internet, I came across some interesting websites that contained history about the Silk Road or how the legacy of the silk road is playing out in today’s cultures.

The Caves of Dunhuang:
Dunhaung was a city along the Silk Road in western china where in the early 1900’s, archaeologists discovered a Buddhist cave library containing over 40,000 manuscripts, paintings, and other artifacts relating to the cultures and peoples along the silk road. In what sounds like an Indiana Jones movie, the caves had been sealed in the first millennium and then rediscovered in the 1900’s. The New York Times has an interesting slid show featuring pictures of the caves and artifacts that archaeologists discovered.

International Dunhuang Project:
After archaeologists discovered the caves, the various items were distributed throughout the world. Because of political turmoil during the 20th century, it was nearly impossible to gain access to these items. The international Dunhuang project catalogues and conserves the artifacts and is a joint effort among British, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Germans to help preserve the legacy of the Silk Road. This website gives access to artifacts and allows one to view and learn about the discoveries made at the Dunhuang Caves.

The Silk Road Project:
The legacy of cross cultural exchange between nations on the silk road helped to inspire the famous cellist Yo Yo Ma to foster the exchange of musical traditions between artists and audiences from acround the globe. His focus is on linking education and music. The Silk Road Ensemble presents music for modern listeners from the countries along the ancient silk road.

The Silk Road Foundation:
This website has in depth information about all aspects of the silk road including cultural influences, articles, archaeological finds, maps, and many other resources pertaining to the history of the trade routes across Eurasia.

Other References:
Christian, David . "Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History." Journal of World History 11.1 (2000): 1-25. Web. JSTOR. Zumber Library, Grand Valley State University. 14 Oct. 2009.