Trade routes
Because trade benefited states, countries tried to keep merchants safe and comfortable. One of the oldest routes was the “Lapis Lazuli Road”: in the 3rd–2nd millennia BCE it carried lapis lazuli from the mountains of Badakhshan (near the Pamir) to Iran, Mesopotamia and Egypt; objects made of this stone have been found in Egyptian tombs. The “Royal Road” ran from Sardis in Asia Minor to Susa, one of the Persian capitals; under Darius I it was put in order and kept under state control. The Great Silk Road opened in the 2nd century BCE; it began in the Chinese city of Xi’an, crossed Central Asia, split in two at Samarkand and reached the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; it was about 12,000 km long. It served not only silk but also the exchange of culture, religions and knowledge. States along it built caravanserais and filled the treasury with customs duties. At sea, the Phoenicians, who lived on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean (around today’s Lebanon), traded in strong sailing ships, steering by the stars.
“Caravan route”: draw the route Xi’an–Samarkand–Mediterranean on a map and at each stop write what a merchant could sell (silk, lapis, spices, glass…).