Everyone knows about Marco Polo, who traveled from Venice to China in the 13th century. New trading opportunities beckoned. He wrote a book after his return, and the Silk Road has held the collective imagination of the West ever since. But many others had already traveled into Central Asia and beyond, and had been trading there for thousands of years. Ancient trade routes crossed from the Middle East to Central Asia and even farther east, down into the subcontinent, north to the Baltic Sea, into northern Africa, and along many different sea routes. Merchants and traders transported goods into Egypt and Mesopotamia from far distant lands at least as early as the 3rd millennium BCE: precious gems such lapis lazuli and valuable metals such as gold, silver, and copper; textiles and spices; new ideas and technologies, new religions, and art - all of these and more.

We will explore those ancient routes, how and why they began, who traveled on them and when, where they led, and what they contributed to civilizations past (and present).

Six-Week Course Schedule | Tuesdays
Oct 17 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Oct 24 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Oct 31 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Nov 07 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Nov 14 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Nov 21 - No Class
Nov 28 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM


This class will be held in-person at WIH and simulcast via Zoom