THERE WAS NEVER ONE SILK ROAD

The singular name is memorable. The history was a network.

The singular name is convenient. The historical reality was a network. UNESCO describes the Silk Roads as interconnected land and maritime routes rather than one continuous highway between China and Europe. Merchants often travelled only sections, exchanging goods with other traders in cities, markets and ports. That matters because the popular image of one heroic caravan crossing Eurasia can hide the distributed nature of the system. Long-distance exchange can emerge even when no single traveller controls the entire journey. The phrase “Silk Road” is itself modern, popularized in the nineteenth century. Ancient travellers did not move through a network carrying one shared brand name. For World of MATAGI, this is a useful correction to how maps tell stories. A single line makes history easy to understand but can make the system less accurate. The richer version has branches, interruptions, sea routes, regional specialists and changing political conditions. Networks are usually messier than the names later generations give them — and that mess is where many of the interesting connections live.

Networks are usually messier than the names we give them later.

• VASTGELEGD

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