1. Networks of Communication and Exchange, 300 BCE – 600 CE

2. I. The Silk Road Origins and Operations Parthians (247 BCE)
General Zhang Jian (128 BCE)
New cities
Goods exchanged from East – West
B. The Sasanid Empire, 224 – 600 CE
Artifacts, sedentary warrior elite
Purpose of cities
New crops in Mediterranean
State religion – Zoroastrianism (intolerance)

3. B. The Sasanid Empire Continued
431 CE – Nestorian Christians declared heretics by Byzantine Empire
Third c. – rise of Manichaeism
Competition for converts along Silk Road
C. The Impact of the Silk Road
Growing importance of trade
Nomads – dwellings
Competing religions
Military technology
Impact of stirrup

4. What is the connection between Manichaeism and Nestorian Christians to the Silk Road? Why do you think these religions were considered a threat?

5. II. The Indian Ocean Maritime System
South China Sea
East coast of India to islands of Southeast Asia
West coast of India to Persian Gulf and East coast of Africa
Dominant traders in each region – exceptions
Mediterranean
Indian Ocean
Square sails, oars, nails
Close to shore, many islands, small harbors
Contact with homeland
Triangular sails, lack of oars, sewn together
Long distance – Monsoon winds
No contact with homeland

6. Origins of Contact and Trade
Early/late records
Indonesian migration to Madagascar
Impact on African mainland – canoes and agriculture
B. Impact of Indian Ocean Trade
Goods from Africa and Middle East
Volume of trade
Western Indian Ocean ports – isolated, not primarily focused on trade
Eastern Indian Ocean ports – larger inland populations, trade VERY important
Role of women

7. Why were ports that were part of the West Indian Ocean trade routes less integrated in the surrounding landscape than East Indian Ocean ports?

8. III. Routes Across the Sahara
Trans – Saharan caravan routes
Cave paintings
Cattle, horses, chariots
CAMELS
North – South
Salt – forest products
Impact of Rome

9. Compare the impact of technology on Saharan trade routes to the Indian Ocean Maritime trade.

10. IV. Sub – Saharan Africa A. Geography, geography, geography…
4,000 miles from Sahara to Cape of Good Hope
Palindrome effect
Tropical rainforest, deserts, savannah, Mediterranean climate
Rivers, rift valleys, cataracts

11. Culture, Technology, and Migrations
Great traditions vs. small traditions
Geographic isolation
Language, agriculture
Music, kinship, dance
Migration after Ice Age
Bananas
How did iron smelting reach sub – Saharan Africa?
Bantu Migration – origins, language

12. What impact did the physical geography of Africa have on the cultural development of people living in sub – Saharan Africa?

13. V. The Spread of Ideas Ideas and Material Evidence
Pig domestication – origins – prohibition
Coins – Anatolia – spread to Europe, North Africa, and India…China?
B. The Spread of Buddhism
Not tied to a single ethnic/kinship group
Impact of kings and Silk Road travelers
Faxian (Early 5th c.) – Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Java, China
Ashoka’s missionaries
Different lands – Mahayana or Theravada Buddhism

14. C. The Spread of Christianity
Spread in Asia and Africa – Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria…Armenia and Ethiopia
Armenia – strategic Silk Road location
Zoroastrianism
Alphabet
Constantinople – missionaries to Yemen and Ethiopia
4th c. CE – Aedisius and Frumentius in Ethiopia
Nubia

15. Why is it more difficult to trace the spread of Buddhism or Christianity than the spread of coin technology?
What factors enabled the spread of Buddhism and Christianity in Asia and Africa?