The Silk Road was a serious of road and transportation
networks that linked China to Europe via the passageway of the Middle East. The
road’s origin goes back to about 3000 BCE but its function as a conduit for
both goods and knowledge exchange between the East and Europe has been pivotal
to the development of the West. The Ancient Romans used the Silk Road to trade
with the Han Chinese after the full road was opened to the West in 200 BCE.
This allowed the Romans to gain access to the Red Sea and the important Spice
Route.
Silk itself first appeared in Rome in 1 CE at about the same
time that glass blowing techniques were first developed and exported from Roman
Syria. The Roman’s used the route to sell goods to the East and for much of the
1st and 2nd century CE the stability of the road was
maintained by the four Great Empires that used it – the Romans, Parthians,
Kushan and Chinese.
After the 7th century CE the road was used by the
Arabs to both expand on their conquests and bring to Europe much needed
technology from the East.
Gunpowder, developed by the Chinese, entered Europe via the
Silk Road in the 13th century, as did porcelain, the compass,
playing cards, weaving technology and paper.
The explorer Marco Polo made contact with the court of
Kublai Khan using the Silk Road in the 13th century on the heels of
the Roads renaissance that was characterized by the Pax Mongolica.
Unfortunately by 1400 CE China closed her borders to
European foreigners curtailing the efficacy of the Silk Road as a trading
artery although on a positive note this appears to have had the net effect of
stimulating the great sea driven exploration drive that followed closely soon
afterward.
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