Uzbekistan: Heirs to the Silk Road

by Johannes Kalter, Margareta Pavaloi

Since its rediscovery by European explorers and travelers in the nineteenth century, the Silk Road has lost none of its fascination. It continues to evoke images of heavily laden caravans crossing endless deserts, steppes, and mountain ranges to reach the markets of wealthy oasis towns. From the second century BC, this network of merchants' routes, well over 4,000 miles long, linked China and the Roman Empire. It served the trade of luxury goods, notably silk, and stimulated the spread of ideas about religion, culture, and art. The young republic of Uzbekistan, with its ancient urban cultural centers of Bukhara, Chiwa, and Samarkand, is the heartland of the Silk Road. The artistic and cultural history of the region, through more than two millennia, is clearly explained here, together with analyses of the architecture, the art of the book, Islamic arts and crafts, and the rich variety of textiles of the region. The wealth of illustrations is drawn from objects in European and Uzbek museums and private collections, many published for the first time.

Genres: History, Art, Nonfiction

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read; the network of trading routes off what is called 'The Silk Road' is immense. The idea of the challenges the early traders faced travelling those paths, back then, leaves a hollow empty feeling in my stomach. Not just the bandits, but the elements and the terrain. Not knowing what tomorrow might throw at you and yet people continued to set out, taking with them news, goods and new ideas.

[Dottie (I'm not dotty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic read; describing the lattice work of trading routes that ,are up the Silk Road. A history from 2BC: the cultures, the religions, the arts, the silk, the ideas that moved along these roads. So descriptive, so entralling.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. So much to take in. It gives a greater understanding of the 'ancient routes', the 'untrodden routes' spoken of by Sam.

Far more than merchants, they were explorers, adventurers, bringers of news from near and far.