American Museum of Natural History

Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World

November 14, 2009 - August 15, 2010

©AMNH

This intriguing exhibition brings to life one of the greatest trading routes in human history, showcasing the goods, cultures, and technologies from four representative cities: Xi’an, China’s Tang Dynasty capital; Turfan, a verdant oasis and trading outpost; Samarkand, home of prosperous merchants who thrived on the caravan trade; and Baghdad, a fertile hub of commerce and scholarship that became the intellectual center of the era.

"For centuries, the Silk Road was a vast and busy network bridging Asia and the Mediterranean region, where people met, transported goods, and conducted trade, and in the process shared culture, religion, and technology,” said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. “In this exhibition, we invite the public to take a journey with us along this critical cultural pathway, which might be thought of as the internet of the ancient world. Visitors will see spectacular sights, smell the spices, marvel at the silk, and hear the stories and music of the great ancient civilizations of Asia and the Middle East.”

Visitors will embark on an unparalleled journey, exploring commerce, communication, and cultural exchange from the far reaches of China through the cities and empires of Central and West Asia from A.D. 600 to 1200. Children will become world travelers as well, collecting special stamps in Silk Road “passports” issued to them at the exhibition entrance, smelling real spices in the spice market, observing live silkworms, and enjoying live musical performances.

On Sunday afternoons, visitors will be treated to live performances brought together by the Silk Road Project, a not-for-profit artistic, cultural and educational organization founded in 1998 by cellist Yo-Yo Ma that takes inspiration from the historic Silk Road trading route as a modern metaphor for multicultural and interdisciplinary exchange.

Visitors will watch live silkworms spinning cocoons in the section devoted to Xi’an; wander through a replica of the desert markets of Turfan, complete with the sights, sounds, and smells of exotic spices, luxury goods, and precious raw materials; meet a life-sized camel model in Samarkand and explore the ancient skills of papermaking and metalwork. In Baghdad, visitors will track the “stars” using a working model of an Arab astrolabe and discover the achievements of Islamic sciences and engineering.

Throughout the exhibition, hands-on activities and interactives will bring to life the golden age of the Silk Road, when the extraordinary collaboration of peoples and cultures influenced the civilized world for hundreds of years.

Please visit AMNH Web site for details.