THE SILK ROAD

Tang Dynasty robe, excavated in the Caucasus. Hermitage Museum, St. Peterburg, Russia

This exotic name for the trade routes, or rather the trade networks, connecting China with the Mediterranean and Mongolia with India was only invented in the nineteenth century. However, trade and cultural exchange has flourished along these routes for millennia, in spite of natural barriers, such as the tallest mountains in Asia, vast deserts, frequent earthquakes, not to mention different languages, religions and cultures. Archaeological excavations in China and the Middle East show us the extent to which ideas, designs and forms were exchanged already in the 2nd millennium BC.

STERLING MEMORIAL LIBRARY NAVE
July 1st - September 30th, 2008