The Silk Road
What country was the starting point of the silk road?
China
If you smuggled this out of China the punishment was death.
Silk Worms
These types of towns along the Silk Road became important trading posts where caravans could get supplies, eat, and rest.
Oasis towns
What empire closed the Silk Road?
The Silk Road trade routes lasted until
1453 CE when the Ottoman Empire closed the trade routes.
Name 2 places the Silk Road connected:
China, India, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Egypt, Africa, Greece, Rome, and even Britain
Name a religion that spread on the silk road:
Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam , Christianity
What kind of animal were the Chinese heavily interested in trading for?
horses
What was one negative about using camels on the Silk Road?
Camels could not carry heavy items with them, so the items traded were usually smaller when using camels.
Name one danger that could come from traveling on the Silk Road?
Sandstorms, lack of water, ice storms, heavy snow, avalanches, and flooding contributed to the danger as did thieves and disease.
About how far apart (travel time) were Oasis towns located from each other?
About 1 day apart
How many miles was the Silk Road?
4,000
Name 2 types of good that were being traded from east to west.
silk gun powder paper furs ceramics cinnamonbark rhubarb
What was one positive about using camels on the Silk Road?
They could travel long distances, they needed little water.
Who was the famous Italian merchant who spent years in Asia and wrote a book about his travels on the Silk Road?
Marco Polo
Name 1 disease that spread along the silk road:
Measles, Small Pox, Bubonic Plague
What is the part of the Silk Road that travels across the sea called?
Maritime Silk Road
Name 2 types of goods that were being traded from the west to the east
wool cloth carpets gold silver ivory coral cucumbers sesame seeds pomegranates walnuts figs alflafa
What types of camels were used on the Silk Road, one-humped camels, two-humped camels, or both?
Both- the one-humped dromedary was used more in western Asia and the two-humped Bactrian camel in the higher and colder regions of central and eastern Asia
The Silk Road reached its peak during what Chinese dynasty?
Yuan dynasty
The Silk Road route that traveled across the sea is better known as what?
Maritime Silk Road
How many continents did the silk road trade route go to or through? Name them:
3
Asia, Europe and Africa
Which Chinese empire was the first to trade goods on the trade routes? (Dynasty that started the Silk Road)
Han
What is a caravan?
A group of traders traveling together
The famous Venetian (Italian) merchant whose adventurous travels on the Silk Road traveled across Asia during what years. (Name 1 year)
From 1271 to 1295 CE.
What ocean was at the center of the Silk Route that traveled across the sea?
Indian Ocean
German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen coined this popular German term, Seidenstraße, in 1877 to describe this network of ancient trade routes.
The Silk Road
Invented during the Han Dynasty, this lightweight, portable material transformed administration and trade, eventually replacing parchment across Europe via Silk Road transmission.
Paper
To protect merchant caravans moving through the narrow Hexi Corridor, the Han Dynasty extended this massive defensive structure west into the Gobi Desert
The Great Wall (of China)
The fall of Constantinople in 1453 to this empire severely restricted European land access to Asia, effectively accelerating the Age of Discovery and maritime trade.
The Ottoman Empire
While oasis city-states like Turpan eagerly adopted Chinese writing, silk fashions, and court traditions, these pastoral nomadic groups of the Eurasian steppe resisted adopting Chinese culture, preferring their own mobile lifestyle.
Steppe Nomads/Mongols