Networks of Communication and Exchange,

300 B.C.E. – 1100 C.E.

I. The Silk Road

A. Origins and Operations

1. Archaeology and linguistic studies show that the peoples of Central Asia engaged in long-distance movement and exchange from at least 1500 B.C.E.

2. One such trade route was known by Europeans as the Silk Road – a trade route linking the lands of the Mediterranean with China by way of Mesopotamia, Iran, and Central Asia.

The Silk Road

3. After the breakup of Alexander the Great’s empire, Seleucid kings focused their energies on Mesopotamia and Syria.

4. This allowed for an Iranian nomadic leader to establish an independent kingdom in northeastern Iran called Parthia.

5. In 128 B.C.E., a Chinese general by the name of Zhang Jian explored territories west of China.

6. Chinese historians look at General Zhang as the originator of overland trade with western lands.

7. Prior to this, long-distance trade did in fact exist but it was occasional with no real consistency.

8. By 100 B.C.E., the route was fully functional and Greek merchants could purchase silk from Parthian merchants in Mesopotamia.

9. Hybrid camels began to appear early in the Silk Road’s operations.

10. The Bactrian camel, from modern day northern Afghanistan, was the main type of camel in Central Asian trade.

11. The Bactrian camel is two-humped with a heavy coat of hair able to withstand frigid winters.

12. The Bactrian camel was interbreed with the Arabian dromedary camel creating a stronger and larger animal than either parent.

Bactrian Camel Dromedary Camel

B. The Impact of Silk Road Trade

1. As trade along the Silk Road increased so too did the migrations of Iranian-speaking peoples into Central Asia.

2. Religion was also an important affect of the Silk Road with the spreading of Buddhism, which competed with Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and eventually Islam.

3. The invention of the stirrup occurred in Central Asia which gave riders a far greater stability.

4. Using stirrups, a mounted warrior could supplement his bow and arrow with a long lance.

5. The stirrup eventually made possible the armored knights who dominate the battlefields of Europe.

Stirrup

II. Routes Across the Sahara

A. Early Saharan Cultures

1. Sprawling sand dunes, sandy plains, and vast expanses of exposed rock make up most of the great desert.

2. Within the cliffs and caves of the northern and southern portions are found a treasure of rock paintings and engravings.

Sahara Desert

Saharan Rock Art

3. Overlaps in the artwork indicate that the hunting societies of the Sahara were gradually joined by new cultures.

4. For instance, we can tell that horse herders succeeded the cattle herders because of the overlapping of artwork.

5. However, the identity of the Saharan horse breeders remain a mystery.

B. The Coming of the Camel

1. Many scholars believe that trade was inaugurated by the spread and domestication of camels.

2. Camels are not native to Africa, so they must have come from Arabia probably around the 1st millennium B.C.E.

3. Once camel herding was established, it became easier for peoples to roam deeper into the desert.

C. The Kingdom of Ghana

1. The earliest known sub-Saharan kingdom to benefit from trade was the kingdom of Ghana.

2. The kingdom of Ghana in the 6th century C.E. inaugurates the first document based political history of West Africa.

3. Unfortunately, few details exist until about the 11th century C.E.

4. What we do know is that they grew rich from trade in salt and gold.

5. The king of Ghana required the sons of vassal kings to attend his court.

6. It is also believed that the kingdom of Ghana could field an army of roughly 200,000 bowmen and cavalry.

Ghana

III. Sub-Saharan Africa

A. The Advent of Iron and the Bantu Migrations

1. Archaeologists know that agriculture first arrived in sub-Sahara Africa around the 2nd millennium B.C.E.

2. It is widely believed that the smelting of iron was discovered once by the Hittites of Anatolia. Some historians are now arguing that it was discovered by Africans independently.

3. Linguists recognize that, of the 300 or more languages spoken south of the equator, they all common from a single family known as Bantu.

4. They presume that since the home of the proto-Bantu lies near early iron smelting areas, the migration occurred southward eventually heading back north.

Bantu Migration