HIST 2321 / IDST 2372
World Civilization To The 15th Century
Dr. Carol A. Keller
~
The focus of our topic discussion for Unit II ~ The Formation of Classical Societies (8-13), is on the Silk Roads in World History.

Assignment: Read Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History by David Christian, Journal of World History  - Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 2000, 1-26 

Access full text through SAC LRC Articles and Reference (databases) , click on Biography & History Databases, go to Project Muse OR History Cooperative - type in article title.

  • The article is FULL TEXT
  • you may print from screen or download as PDF -- you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to do that. The reader is free, but you must download if you computer does not have.
  • Click here to install Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Consult the following Web sites to insure geographical and topical preparation.


Bringing Internet Mapping to the Humanities Project - consult South Asia and Central Asia Map Activities and Mapping Services in this project (the initial funding for this project came from a National Endowment for the Humanities 2003 Focus Grant (see Project History).
Geo Project created by Dr. Jonathan Lee and Dr. Dean Lambert, San Antonio College
The Silk Road Foundation  ~ 
Buddhism and Its Spread Along the Silk Road ~ 
Map of 1st Century Trade Routes ~ 
Indian Ocean Map (modern) ~ 
Asia reference map (modern)  ~ 

Thought Starters

  • How did geography encourage or hinder trans-ecological encounters? 
  • What natural and man made obstacles had to be overcome to navigate the Afro-Eurasian landmass? 
  • How did merchants overcome these barriers? 
  • How did geography encourage, or discourage, encounters and cross-cultural interaction? 
  • Which specific areas of the Afro Eurasia world between 300 B.C. E. and 1100 C. E. were centers of exchange or what areas served as entrepots - places where merchants from different cultures most likely convened from many areas to exchange goods?  For example, the city of Rome was not an entrepot, but the city of Samarkand was. 
  • What happened to these routes when empires could not sustain political and economic stability?

TP # 2 Study Guide

Read David Christian's article on the Silk Roads (you may omit pages 10 - 14, BUT read section summary on 14).

Fully answer each of the following questions to complete your study guide:

1. What historical perspective concerning the Silk Roads does Christian wish to correct.
2. Define the following key concepts:

  • Silk Roads
  • Afro-Eurasian landmass
  • "trans-civilizational" exchanges (5)
  • "trans-ecological" exchanges (7-9)

3. How does Christian want readers to understand "the larger historical significance of the Silk Roads"? (2)
4. How does conventional historiography characterize the Silk Roads?
5. Briefly summarize the nature of the Silk road in the classical era.
6. What historical development triggered expansion to the north?
7. What exchanges did the different parts of Afro-Eurasia share? (22-23)
8. What important things were not exchanged along the Silk Roads? (24)

Essay Assignment

  • The essay assignment based on Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History by David Christian, Journal of World History will be available on the day of the class study guide discussion.
  • Consult your course calendar for the due date for uploading to assignments in BbV.

Please send any questions, or comments to Carol A. Keller, email, ckeller@alamo.edu
Return to  Carol A. Keller's homepage

Last updated January 2010
page created by Carol A. Keller