Amazon.com Additional Content: Silk Road Photo Gallery (Click on Images to Enlarge)
Here is a sample of the stunning photographs of documents and art objects that appear in The Silk Road: A New History.
How the Silk Road Got Its Name
The German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen coined the term "Silk Road" with the publication of this map in 1877. Before this date, people referred to the route as the road to Samarkand (or whatever the next major city was).
Tang Barbie
When this seventh-century Chinese beauty was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the staff nicknamed her "Tang Barbie" because she was the same height as the children's doll and every bit as fashionable. Her arms are made from recycled paper that turned out to be important documents from a pawnshop.
Ancient Niya
Worn by the centuries, the outer layer of Niya's stupa has been stripped away, revealing the bricks underneath. Wooden documents found at this site are a treasure trove of information about life on the Silk Road in the third and fourth centuries.
Zoroastrian Art from Xi'an
This Sogdian tomb has a typical Chinese stone tomb entranceway with Zoroastrian art above the doorway. Zoroastrian imagery found in tombs like this is much more detailed and much more informative than anything that survives in the Iranian homeland of Zoroastrianism.
When Rivers Flowed Through the Taklamakan Desert
Most riverbeds in the Taklamakan Desert today are bone dry, but in 1899 the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin used this 38-foot boat to explore the waterways of the region.
Silk Road Dance Party
The swirl, introduced by the Sogdians, was performed all along the Silk Road by men and women alike and described by contemporaries as fast-paced and exciting. This painted stone panel comes from the tomb of a Sogdian headman in Xi'an who died in 579 C.E.