Silk Road Towns

Explore connectionsbetween East and West in the First Century CE.These maps explore relationships

between major cities in 100 CE,Silk Road towns,

and environmental conditionsalong a Eurasian trading routethat went from China to Rome.

The Silk Road was three times as long as the famous Oregon Trail, and it went

over mountains nearly twice as high,but it was nearly 2000 years earlier!

1 Index grid and continents: A-2 _Europe_ B-6 _Africa_ H-3 _Asia_

If your students need a reminderabout the basic geography of this area,

have them use the letter-number gridalong the edges of Map 1to locate the places noted

at the top of the map: -- A2 in central Europe,

-- B6 in northeastern Africa, -- H3 in central Asia.

Continents and location words (East, West)…

This background map helps students answer the questions on Map 1.

A teacher can reinforce concepts of direction and knowledge of basic place names

by asking students what direction a person would goin order to travel from

-- Europe to Africa, -- Africa to India,-- India to central Asia, etc.

2 Where were the largest cities in 100 CE?

What do some have in common?

Notice, too, that of eight of the largest cities in 100 CE were all located in a very narrow

“latitudinal band”(a band running west to east).

Students should notice that several cities are on the

shores of theMediterranean Sea.

3 Overlay “cities” and “rivers” and describe their relationship.

Students can compare Map 2 and Map 3 visually, or they can “overlay” the maps by aligning them on top of each other

and holding them up to the light . (Teachers can also make overhead transparencies and put them on top of each other.)

Either way, students should note that four cities are located next to the Mediterranean Sea, and four are located on rivers. (See the next map.)

Where were the largest cities located in 100 CE? Why in those places?

This is an alternative to Map 3.It shows both rivers and cities on the same map, without requiring

viewers to overlay the maps (but then students don’t learn that skill!)

Students should still be encouraged to make a verbal generalization about the relationships between cities,

the Mediterranean Sea, and rivers.

carol.gersmehl@gmail.com Sept. 22, 2008

Silk Road routes connected East with West in 100 CE.

The Silk Road was not actually a single road. It was a trading network that connected a number of places.

Silk and other goods were carried from the Han Empire in China (the area around the two cities in the East) all the way to the Roman Empire

(the four cities around the Mediterranean Sea).

carol.gersmehl@gmail.com Sept. 22, 2008

Where are “Silk Road Towns” located in relation to largest cities in 100 CE?

Individual Silk Road trading towns were part of a long string of townsthat grew up in strategic positions

along the network of trails and roadsthat extended from the Mediterranean Sea all the way to China

(with branches to India and other places).

Silk Road Towns helped to “connect” the largest cities in 100 CE.

This map combines information about the Silk Road Towns withinformation from an earlier map that showed the largest cities in the year 100.

The point is that the Silk Road connected nearly all of the important placesat that time in history.

Students can use the scale of miles to estimate the distance between Luoyang (in China) and

Antioch (on the Mediterranean Sea).

Silk Road Towns

The journey betweenEast and West was dangerous!

Examine environmental conditionsnear ancient trading towns.

NOTE:The Silk Road wasthree times as longas the Oregon Trail!

It went throughhigher mountains,

drier deserts, and places attackedby different groups

of raiders.

Plan a route between China and the Mediterranean Sea.

To help communicate information about environments along the Silk Road,we use this satellite image in several slides that follow.

(A separate PowerPoint presentation also uses this satellite image and offers comments about historically important places between the Mediterranean Sea and China.)

4 We numbered towns so we could tell stories and show photos.

Along this journey there was beauty,and there was danger!

Map 4 is meant for taking notes;it is blank except for the Silk Road towns, which are numbered in a way that links with photos of landscapes and artifacts.

5 The journey passes through challenging environments.

Find dry areas!

This map shows the towns on a satellite image.Students should note that most of the townsare located on rivers. That is very important

because the towns are located in mostly dry regionsin the interior of a continent, far from the ocean.

Ask students how theywould identify dry areason the satellite image.(yellow and tan colors)

The journey passes through challenging environments.

Dry areas are highlighted with red!

Students should note that most of the towns on Map 5 are located on rivers. That is very important because they are located in mostly dry regions

in the interior of a continent, far from the ocean.

Dry areas on the satellite imagehave yellow and tan colors.

Part of the Saharathe largest desert in the world

Arabian Desert

Karakum

Kyzylkum

Great Salty Desert(not all that great!)

Taklamakan

ar-Rub’ al-Khalia dry part of the Arabian

Thar Desert

Gobi

The journey passes through challenging environments.

6 Find dry areas!

This map can help studentsinterpret some featuresthat appear on Map 5 (the satellite image).

Ask them why this dark blue areahas more precipitation.

(It’s a high mountain range).

Dry areas! How can towns exist in dry areas?

Here is one answer: rain makes rivers, and large rivers are hard to cross, especially when

they make deep canyons. It was difficult to travel through this rugged and rainy area

between China and India in 100 CE.

This map puts the red desert symbolon a map of precipitation.

Students sometimes wonder whySilk Routes went through dry areas.

Overlay “rivers” and precipitation.

Note that the wet area mentionedon the previous map has four (4!)

parallel rivers flowing through deep and almost un-crossable canyons

(Students could look at Google Earth to get a view of the terrain in this area).

Rivers in Central Asiawere especially important for

Silk Road Towns.

This map adds rivers to the map of precipitation.

Here is more detailed information about rivers.

This map puts blue lines for riversand squares for the Silk Road towns

on top of a satellite image.

Note how the Silk Road towns are often located where small rivers flow out of mountains into deserts.

Mountains present difficulties, but they also provide benefits.

The Silk Road also crossed some of the highest mountains in the world.

Traders and pack animals faced cold, ice, and snow in high mountains as they

climbed and descended steep trails.

Different traders carried the goods on different parts of the journey

7 Elevation! Notice the extreme heights between Silk Road Towns.

Some of the passes between the high mountain peaks were

more than 3,700 meters above sea level.

That’s 12,000 feet, or nearly as highas the highest mountains

in the United States outside of Alaska.

Overlay rivers and elevation. Notice where rivers begin!

These high mountains are the sources of many rivers,

including the Indus, Ganges,Brahmaputra, Mekong, Yangtze,

Huang He, and the riversthat flow into the Aral Sea.

Melting snow from high mountains supports rivers that flow toward

several Silk Road Towns.