Silk Route Map | Desktop Globe

The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes that connected east and west for more than 1,500 years. Spanning almost all of Asia, with routes going from Europe, through the Middle East, Central Asia and China, crossing dangerous and daunting landscapes from precarious mountain ranges to unforgiving deserts. These routes were not a single road but a complex web of interconnected paths that spanned thousands of miles, both overland and by sea, and they were instrumental in shaping the civilisations along the way. Smaller trade roads and sea routes would branch off to connect even further places such as South East Asia, Northern Europe and Africa. It played a significant role in facilitating cultural exchange and the trade of goods, including silk, spices, precious metals and more. The historical routes on this globe are highlighted with modern towns and cites with relative heritage alongside ruins and ancient sites, which in their heyday contributed to the profound impact the Silk Road had on the development of societies and remains a symbol of cross-cultural interaction.

Marco Polo is illustrated as he is regarded as one of the world’s most influential travellers of the medieval period. At the age of seventeen, along with his uncle and father, he travelled overland across much of Asia as part of a diplomatic mission for Pope Gregory X. With much of the journey making use of the well worn routes of the ancient silk roads, the Polos ventured through modern day Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and China, reaching the court of Kublai Khan after three and a half years. The Khan took a liking to Marco, and the Polos would serve as members of the court as emissaries, conducting various diplomatic missions that took the Polos further into South East Asia.

Marco Polo’s Ships are shown along the sea route. By 1291 the Polos had spent 17 years in the court of the khan and were ready to return home, The Khan was not happy to release them from service, but reluctantly agreed on condition they escort a mongol princess who was set to marry the mongol ruler of Persia. They Returned to Hormuz by Sea escorted with a fleet of fourteen Chinese ships, and along the way they stopped at a number of regions that were paying tribute to the Khan. From Hormuz, the Polos then returned home, being escorted by Mongol cavalry until they safely reached Trebizond (Trabzon). Sailing over the Black Sea to Constantinople (Istanbul) and then home to Venice which they reached around 1295.

The Yumen pass or Jade gate is shown as it is the remains of a section of the Great Wall outside of Dunhuang, a small oasis town. A crucially strategic point along the silk roads, this was the last stop for Chinese traders before heading west over the Taklamakan desert, a notoriously deadly region, which In folk etymology is said to mean ‘place of no return’.

Traders are shown along the silk roads would not have travelled the entire length of Asia, goods would move between various groups of middlemen such as the Sogdian merchants, making the cities of Central Asia like Samarkand and Bukhara a wealthy and profitable hub of trade between east and west. Before the relative safety provided by the Mongol conquest of most of Asia, roads and passes along the silk roads were very dangerous and full of bandits and thieves, traders would have made advantage of safety in numbers, travelling in large caravans together between stops.

Spices are illustrated. Silk was not the only thing traded along these routes, alongside various other textiles the Silk Roads saw the exchange of paper, gemstones, porcelain, raw materials, livestock and even wild exotic animals such as peacocks, but one of the most important traded goods were spices. Spices from the far east would find their way to Europe, and the monopoly that would eventually arise from their trade would encourage European nations to set sail in attempts to find new routes to the fabled ‘spice islands’ –

Mongolian Horses are illustrated. The native horse breed of Mongolia is purported to be largely unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan. Mongolian horses are generally smaller and stockier than other breeds, but their hardiness and stamina made them a formidable essential to the nomadic tribes of north Asia, who developed their entire cultures around life on horseback. These Horses were instrumental to the Mongol conquests of almost all of Asia, allowing them to cover vast distances quickly, launch surprise attacks and retreat with speed.

Silk makers are illustrated. According to legend, silk was discovered by the Chinese empress Xi Lingshi, who was having afternoon tea whilst sitting under a mulberry tree, a cocoon fell into her tea, and she watched with amazement at the silk thread that slowly unravelled from the cocoon.  Silk was first produced by China in the 4th millennium BC, and the product stayed a coveted secret until the establishment of the silk roads from approx 114 BC, where the trade of silk was spread across Eurasia with the monopoly on its production being maintained by china for another thousand years. The illustration is a reproduction of a section of Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk – a silk painting produced in the 12th century, depicting an Imperial silk production ceremony and shows three groups of Tang dynasty court ladies in the various stages of the silk making – the four ladies in the illustration are the ones ironing out the silk.