Unveiling the Silk Roads: A Journey Through Trade and Culture at the British Museum

The British Museum in London launches a new exhibition, 'Silk Roads,' highlighting the vast network of Silk Road trade routes from AD 500 to 1,000. Featuring diverse artifacts like Chinese ceramics and Byzantine jewelry, the exhibition emphasizes the interconnectedness of Asia, Africa, and Europe through goods, people, and ideas.

The British Museum in London is unveiling a new exhibition that delves into the extensive network of Silk Road trade routes. Titled 'Silk Roads,' this exhibit covers the period from AD 500 to 1,000, showcasing a wide array of artifacts such as Chinese ceramics, Byzantine jewelry, and the earliest known chess pieces.

'This exhibition is presenting a rather different vision of the Silk Road than some people might be expecting,' said exhibition co-curator Sue Brunning. 'Rather than a single trade route between east and west, we are showing the Silk Roads plural, as a series of overlapping networks that link communities across Asia, Africa, and Europe.'

Key highlights of the exhibition include loans from Central Asia, like a large mural from an aristocratic house in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and a gilded silver cup from the Galloway Hoard, on loan from the National Museums Scotland. 'Silk Roads' opens this Thursday and will run until February.

(With inputs from agencies.)