Transcript The Silk Road

Silk Roads
Geographic Objectives
You will able to:

1. Locate regions that were part of the Silk Road network
(Mediterranean, Arabia, eastern Africa, Persia, Central Asia,
India, and China) in 100 CE

2. Describe physical conditions (deserts, mountains, rivers)
at various places along the Silk Road.

3. Identify important economic goods and cultural ideas
(highly valued in 100 CE) that moved along the Silk Road.

4. Explain how trade and travel along the Silk Road
changed places over time.
Silk Roads - Vocabulary
Merchant
Monk
Bandit
---------------------------------------------------------------Silk cloth
Glass
Spices
Heavenly horses
Ivory
Cotton cloth
---------------------------------------------------------------Buddhism
Islam
---------------------------------------------------------------Caravan
---------------------------------------------------------------Oasis
Port city
Animals
Camels, horses, sheep and yaks
People
Bandits and
Monks then
later Merchants
Places
Mountains, Deserts,
Oases
(plural of oasis)
Silk Road towns connected the largest cities
of the West and East in 100 CE.
West
East
Silk Roads towns between China and the Mediterranean
Sea.
West
East
Our Silk Roads journey starts in China.
Between Chang’an (#1) and
Dunhuang (#4):
Bandits from Mongolia or Tibet
may attack caravans.
Therefore, Chinese soldiers must travel with
the caravans.
In the Chinese city of Chang’an (#1),
merchants load fine silk cloth
and herbal medicines onto
two-humped Bactrian camels.
Chang’an (Xian today)
O The site of the Han capital was located 5
km northwest of modern Xi'an. As the
capital of the Western Han Dynasty, it
was the political, economic and cultural
center of China, the eastern terminus of
the Silk Road, and a cosmopolitan
metropolis comparable with the greatest
cities of the contemporaneous Roman
Empire.
We will explore the Silk Roads using a satellite
images.
Which colors indicate drier areas
or deserts?
tan
In this satellite image,
the green color tells us about
vegetation.
Green areas have enough water
for trees and crops.
Chang’an Area – Satellite View
The statue is at the starting point of
the ancient Silk Road of Chang'an
(present Xian City).
The Great Mosque – 50,000 Muslims
in Xi’an today
4th largest area of Buddhist grottoes
Maiji Mountain
Lanzhou
O Early settlement in this region could be
dated to the Han Dynasty and has a
history of over 2,000 years. The city
used to be called the Golden City, when
it was a major stop on the ancient Silk
Road. To protect the city, the Great Wall
of China was extended as far as Yumen.
Lanzhou area – satellite view
Dunhuang (#4) is an important
Buddhist religious center.
Buddhist monks traveled along the Silk Road
and brought Buddhism
from India to China.
Dunhuang
O The city is located near the historic
junction of the northern and southern Silk
Roads, and was therefore a town of
military importance.
O For centuries Buddhist monks at
Dunhuang collected scriptures from the
west, and many pilgrims passed through
the area, painting murals inside the
Mogao Caves or "Caves of a Thousand
Buddhas."
Satellite view of Dunhuang area.
Sand dunes outside Dunhuang
Dunhuang
city wall.
Spring oasis near Dunhuang on
the Silk Road
Desert Road
Flaming Mountains
Home in Turfan
Buddhist temple caves
Taklamakan Desert
(“if you go in, you won’t come out”)
(“Desert of Death”):
Caravans must travel through this desert
before the heat of summer hits.
Find #5, #6, #7, #8, #9.
Rivers carry melted
snow down from high
mountains!
High,
snow-covered
mountains
surround the
Taklamakan.
Oasis towns are located along the
edge of the Taklamakan Desert.
Taklamakan Desert – Satellite
View – near Khotan
Kashgar
Turfan
Taklamakan
Desert
Khotan
Caravan in the Taklamakan
Desert
Carpet
weaving
in
Khotan
Khotan Carpet
Kashgar (#10) is an oasis town,
where local merchants trade their
dates, melons, and grapes
for silk that the caravans bring from China.
Why did the Chinese
travel this far west
(to Central Asia)?
Pamir Mountains (between #10 and #13):
The route continues through mountains
and is called the “Trail of Bones”
because the route is dangerously
steep and cold.
Old town
section of
Kashgar
Pamir Mountains:
Between Kashgar (#10) and
Tashkent (#13),
caravans climbed the
“Trail of Bones” through
the high, steep Pamirs.
Pamir Mountains:
Elevations are above 10,000 feet.
It is extremely cold, and there is no food.
The highest
elevations are
purple
and dark gray.
Pamir Mts. Seen from the Silk Road
Why cross the
Pamirs?
The highest
elevations are
purple
and dark gray.
In Tashkent (#13),
Chinese military use silk
to purchase the strong horses
raised in the grasslands
of Central Asia.
In Tashkent (#13),
local merchants also sell
fine locally made wool carpets
as well as musical instruments
and glass objects
that have come from
Europe and the Middle East.
Samarkand
O Samarkand, population 412,300 in 2005,
is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan
and the capital of Samarqand Province.
The city is most noted for its central
position on the Asian Silk Road between
China and the west. Despite its status as
the second city of Uzbekistan, the majority
of the city's inhabitants (90%) are Persianspeaking Tajiks.
View of the Three Academies.
Man at the Registan – Site of three
Muslim clergy academies.
Old shopping mall still in operation
Serpentine
walls of
Khiva
Dromedary camels
from Arabia
are used
from here westward.
#20 and #21 send
In Herat (#17), a great
Islamic mosque stands
near the city market.
People from Arabia
brought the religion of
Islam
to Silk Road towns.
spices and cotton cloth
from India
and precious stones from
Ceylon.
Tyre (#27): Goods
are loaded onto ships
in this port city on the
Mediterranean Sea.
In Baghdad (#24),
In Byzantium (#28),
few people know where
China is,
but wealthy people want
the silk that has traveled
along the Silk Roads.
ivory, gold, and spices
from Africa
and pearls from the
Persian Gulf
are exchanged for silk.
Baghdad
O Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad
Governorate. With an estimated population of
seven million, it is the largest city in Iraq. It is
the second-largest city in the Arab world (after
Cairo) and the second-largest city in southwest
Asia (after Tehran). Located on the Tigris River
the city dates back to at least the 8th century,
and probably to pre-Islamic times. It was once
the center of Dar al-salam, the Muslim world.
Iraq
map
Mosque and Arch
Dust storm in Baghdad
Silk Road towns connected the largest cities of
the West and East in 100 CE.
Silk Road towns connected the largest cities
of the West and East in 800 CE.
Was the Silk Road
the internet
highway of the
ancient world?
WHAT DO WE GET FROM THE INTERNET?
Buy & sell goods on
EBAY, AMAZON, etc.
E-mail anyone
in the world/
MySpace /
YouTube
Google
Earth /
Mapquest
Entertainment: video
games, music,
movies, etc.
INTERNET
Online
banking
$$$$$$
Research to gain
more knowledge &
information about a
topic
Meet people /
online dating
1. What do you see?
2. How can we compare this to the internet of today?
3. Why was this important to global history?
OUD
ITEMS TRADED ALONG THE SILK ROAD
GLASS
BACTRIAN
CAMELS
CARPETS
METAL
WORK
PORCELAIN
SILK
JADE
SPICES
Renaissance Lute
Central Asian Oud
Japanese Satsuma Biwa
Chinese Pipa
MERCHANT - a person whose job is to
buy, sell & trade goods. (salesman or
businessman)
Bactrian Camels:
The workhorses of the Silk Roads
A camel can carry
1,000lbs and go 15 days
without water
Sheep are the basis of life in the
desert and steppe.
Horses: transport, trade and
war
Yaks: Carrying loads in the
mountains
Inventions on the Silk Roads:
The stirrup and the cross bow
Religions on the Silk Road
O Zoroastrianism
O Nestorian Christianity
O Manichaeism
O Buddhism
O Islam
Research one of the religions you don’t know!
Thanks to all of our collaborators!
New York Geographic Alliance
Michigan
Geographic
Alliance
Carol Gersmehl, [email protected]
Co-coordinator, New York Geographic Alliance
PowerPoint prepared in cooperation with Marty Mater, Michigan Geographic Alliance