Silk Roads

Sue Brunning, Luk Yu-ping, Elisabeth R. O’Connell , Tim Williams

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English

British Museum Press
23 December 2024

History; Historical geography

The term 'Silk Road' conjures a range of romantic images. Camel caravans crossing desert dunes. Merchants trading silk and spices. Far-flung commerce between 'East' and 'West'. The reality was far richer.

'Filled with insights, the very latest research and plenty of surprises: a superlative catalogue of one the most ambitious and spectacular exhibitions ever staged at the British Museum.' - Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

A richly illustrated publication that explores the networks of contacts and exchanges spanning Afro-Eurasia during the defining period between 500 and 1000 CE, highlighting how the movement of people, objects and ideas shaped cultures and histories. It reimagines the Silk Roads as a web of interlocking networks linking Asia, Africa and Europe, from Japan to Ireland, from the Arctic to Madagascar.

Silk Roads tells a remarkable story of people, objects and ideas flowing in all directions, through the traces these journeys left behind – including ceramics from Tang China recovered from a shipwreck in the Java Sea, sword-fittings set with Indian garnets buried in England, and a selection of letters and legal texts from a synagogue in Cairo revealing a Jewish community's links from India to al-Andalus. Woven throughout, encounters with various peoples active on the Silk Roads, from seafarers to Sogdians, Aksumites and Vikings, reveal the human stories, innovations and transfers of knowledge that emerged, shaping cultures and histories across continents centuries before the formation of today's globalised world

'A sumptuous book...a book of the exotic and the wonderful, a trip to ancient and far-away lands, a book full of artistic and cultural treasures, a book to savour and enjoy.' - Sacred Hoop magazine

By: Sue Brunning, Luk Yu-ping, Elisabeth R. O’Connell, Tim Williams
Imprint: British Museum Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 270mm, Width: 240mm,
Weight: 1.860kg
ISBN: 9780714124971
ISBN 10: 0714124974
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 23 December 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction 1. Three capitals in East Asia (Yu-ping Luk) Seafarers in the Indian Ocean (Yu-ping Luk) 2. From the coast to desert oases (Yu-ping Luk) Sogdians from Central Asia (Yu-ping Luk) 3. Turkic peoples from the steppe (Tim Williams) Vikings on the austrvegr (Sue Brunning) 4. Central Asia to the Gulf under Islam (Tim Williams) Aksumites and their port city, Adulis (Elisabeth R. O’Connell) 5. Mediterranean connections (Elisabeth R. O’Connell) Peoples of al-Andalus (Sue Brunning) 6.North-west Europe (Sue Brunning) Notes Select bibliography List of contributors Acknowledgements Credits Index

Sue Brunning is Curator, European Early Medieval Collections in the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory at the British Museum and co-curator of Silk Roads, an exhibition opening in September 2024. Luk Yu-ping is Basil Gray Curator: Chinese Paintings, Prints and Central Asian Collection in the Department of Asia at the British Museum and co-curator of Silk Roads, an exhibition opening in September 2024. Elisabeth R. O'Connell is Curator, Byzantine World in the Departments of Britain, Europe and Prehistory and Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum and co-curator of Silk Roads, an exhibition opening in September 2024. Tim Williams is Emeritus Professor of Silk Roads Archaeology at University College London.

Reviews for Silk Roads

'The true soul of this new exhibition has been encapsulated within a single book, a treasure trove of stories, images, and insights that brought the ancient trade routes to life.' - Cent magazine