Silk Road Virtual Museum eLibraries

The eLibraries offer free and immediate access to online resources for anyone wanting to explore further the context of the museum’s artifacts. As the museum develops, more resources, in more languages, will be added.

Subscribers to the newsletter will receive updates on all new developments. Any suggestions for additions to this list will be welcome.

Khitan Empire eLibrary

Khitan Empire eLibrary

The Khitan Empire, also known as the Liao Dynasty (907–1125), was a powerful nomadic state founded by the Khitan people in northern China and Mongolia.

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Tibetan Empire eLibrary

Tibetan Empire eLibrary

The years 1261-1453 saw the Byzantine empire's last centuries, marked by cultural revival and artistic achievements. However. the political decline and constant threats ended with the fall of Constantinople.

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Byzantium 1262-1453 eLibrary

Byzantium 1262-1453 eLibrary

The years 1261-1453 saw the Byzantine empire's last centuries, marked by cultural revival and artistic achievements. However. the political decline and constant threats ended with the fall of Constantinople.

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Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates eLibrary

Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates eLibrary

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) was a golden age of Chinese art, marked by flourishing painting, ceramics, and sculpture, reflecting a cosmopolitan culture and innovative artistic achievements

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Tang Dynasty China Art eLibrary

Tang Dynasty China Art eLibrary

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) was a golden age of Chinese art, marked by flourishing painting, ceramics, and sculpture, reflecting a cosmopolitan culture and innovative artistic achievements

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Vikings in the East eLibrary

Vikings in the East eLibrary

In the 9th-10th centuries Norse traders navigated the Volga and Dnieper Rivers, linking Scandinavia with the Byzantine Empire and Islamic world, fostering trade and cultural exchange.

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Sasanian Empire eLibrary

Sasanian Empire eLibrary

The Sasanian dynasty ruled for over four centuries from 224 to 651CE. At its peak the Empire encompassed all of present-day Iran and Iraq, and stretched from the Levant to the Indian subcontinent and from South Arabia to the Caucasus and Central Asia. The period marked a high-point in Persian civilization.

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Silk Along the Silk Road eLibrary

Silk Along the Silk Road eLibrary

Cilicia was a Christian Armenian kingdom situated in an area broadly comparable the south-eastern borders of Turkey with the Mediterrean. The fortress city of Sis was its capital. The region lay at a strategic position, just south of the mountain ranges between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.

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Northern Song and Yuan Dynasty eLibrary

Northern Song and Yuan Dynasty eLibrary

Genghis Khan, first conquered the Jin Dynasty. Then, Kublai Khan, captured and ruled China as the Yuan Dynasty. This period saw significant cultural exchange and economic expansion but also pestilence, famine and revolt.

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The Golden Horde eLibrary

The Golden Horde eLibrary

When the great Mongol leader, Ghangis Khan, died in 1225, he divided his empire among his four grandsons. Batu was assigned control over the most north-western territories, which became known as the Ulug Ulus (Great State) or, more commonly, ‘Golden Horde’. The ‘Pax Mongolia’, that stretched from the Horde’s western borders to China seas, opened up an era of prosperity along the overland silk road.

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Afterlives Along the Silk Road eLibrary

Afterlives Along the Silk Road eLibrary

Death was a fate suffered by everyone who lived and travelled along the Silk Road. What happened next, depended on individuals' religious beliefs. The exhibitions feature Christan, Zoroastrian and Buddhist art over three museums.

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Caravanserai eLibrary

Caravanserai eLibrary

Merchants and travellers along the Silk Road faced many dangers, but for stretches of the journey they could rely on caravanserais. Situated at regular intervals along the most travelled routes, these buildings offered overnight shelter and refreshment for both man and beast. Travelling East to West, from the centre of China to the shores of the Mediterranean, the exhibition allows visitors to explore ten of these ancient monuments – the physical infrastructure of the trade and exchange that characterized the ancient ‘Silk Road'.

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Chess along the Silk Road eLibrary

Chess along the Silk Road eLibrary

The modern game of chess is a perfect example of cultural exchange along the silk roads. Starting in the North-West of the Indian subcontinent, it entered Persia sometime around the 6th century CE. The game was carried to China by Buddhist monks, and by Islamic armies and traders throughout Central Asia. The Moorish conquest of Spain introduced the game into Europe, where it was eventually codified into its current form.

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The Timurid Empire: The Court elibrary

The Timurid Empire: The Court elibrary

Even by the standards of the time, Timur’s wars of conquest were particularly murderous but he and his successors promoted the arts and sciences and embellished their cities, especially Samarkand and Herat, with beautiful examples of Islamic architecture and splendid gardens. The miniature paintings in the exhibition offers a glimpse into the sumptuous life in the Timurid Court.

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Sogdian Traders elibrary

Sogdian Traders elibrary

The Sogdians were originally an eastern Iranian civilisation but were later concentrated in Central Asia, with Samarkand as the main city. Literally straddling the ancient silk roads, many became traders and settled in communities throughout Asia, but especially in China. Wherever they went, they took their language, culture and traditions with them. In the 8th century their civilisation became eclipsed by the Muslim conquests in the West and by their association an unsuccessful rebellion in China.

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Map Room eLibrary

Map Room eLibrary

This is the latest version of an electronic library of resources supporting the Map Room exhibition. It offers free and immediate access to online resources for anyone wanting to explore further the context of the exhibition’s maps.

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Mamluk Glass eLibrary

Mamluk Glass eLibrary

This is the latest version of an electronic library of resources supporting the exhibition devoted to glass production under the Mamluk rulers of Egypt. It offers free and immediate access to online resources for anyone wanting to explore further the context of the museum’s artifacts.

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Venice eLibrary

Venice eLibrary

Venice reached the peak of its imperial reach at the start of the 13th century with the seizure and sacking of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. In the aftermath, Venice acquired Crete and several other islands in the Aegean. In 1261, however, the recapture of Constantinople by the Michael VIII with the help of Genoa, Venice’s chief trade rival in the region, dealt a blow to the city’s prestige and prosperity.

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Cilicia eLibrary

Cilicia eLibrary

Cilicia was a Christian Armenian kingdom situated in an area broadly comparable the south-eastern borders of Turkey with the Mediterrean. The fortress city of Sis was its capital. The region lay at a strategic position, just south of the mountain ranges between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.

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Overland Silk Roads History

Overland Silk Roads History

The Silk Road was a term invented by the German explorer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877 CE to describe the overland trade routes between Asia and Europe. It spanned the period between approximately 200 BCE and 1500 BCE, with the intensity of trade fluctuating in inverse proportion to the prevalence of peace and prosperity in the region.

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Early Ming Dynasty eLibrary

Early Ming Dynasty eLibrary

Mongols had ruled China since 1271 but plague, disease and increasing demands on the population led to discontent and revolt. In 1356 rebel forces seized Nanjing and it eventually became the capital of the new Ming dynasty.

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Maritime Silk Roads History

Maritime Silk Roads History

Read through carefully selected articles and resources on the history of the Maritime Silk Roads. Some resources are available in English or Chinese.

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