Antiquity

1
Introduction to the Silk Road

• Antiquitys Internet Highway

2
Essential Question

• How has the evolution of the Silk Roads impacted
  cultural diffusion within modern society?

3
The History of the Silk Road

• In order to describe the ebb and flow of travel
  and trade between the East and the West the Silk
  Roads is divided into four periods

4
1st Period

• Lasted around the 2nd B.C.E. to the 2nd Century
  C.E.
• This was the era of initial development of the
  various Silk Roads establishment of the oases
  and towns which connected the Han Dynasty (206
  B.C.E -220C.E.) with central west Asia
• With the collapse of the Han the Parthian
  Empire, Persia diminished commerce travel along
  the East-West trade routes

5
2nd Period

• From the 7th to the late 9th century C.E.
• Tang dynasty expansion of Islam from the Arab
  World through Persia to Central Asia
• Decline and downfall of Tang late 9th early
  10th centuries
• Growing turbulence in central Asia resulted in
  dramatic reduction of commerce on the Silk Roads

6
3rd Period

• 13th 14th centuries coincided with the rise
  expansion of the of the Mongol empire because
  leaders favored trade conquests led to a Pax
  Mongolia over a lot of the Silk Roads
  facilitating trade travel along many of these
  routes
• Disintegration /break-up of the Mongol Khanates
  the discovery of sea routes from Europe to Asia
  late 15th century disrupted the Silk Roads trade
  led to decline in parts of Central Asia

7
4th Period

• Spans the late 19th century to the present
• Started with Tsarist Russia expansion into
  Central Asia in the 1850s and 1860s
• The Silk Roads are referred to as the Oil and Gas
  Roads,
• They are also referred to as Azerbaijan,
  Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Mongolia (with its
  wealth of petroleum)

8
Why Study The Silk Road?Cultural Diffusion

• Major Themes
• The significance of
• trade
• The spread of religions
• The diffusion of technology the arts
• The development powerful military forces empires

9
Concluding Thought

• Revisit the Essential Question