Elisabeth R. O'Connell

‘Filled with insights, the very latest research and plenty of surprises: a superlative catalogue of one the most ambitious and spectacular exhibitions ever staged at the British Museum.’ – Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World ‘A sumptuous book…a book of the exotic and the wonderful, a trip to ancient and far-away lands, a book full of artistic and cultural treasures, a book to savour and enjoy.’ – Sacred Hoop magazine A richly illustrated publication that explores the networks of contacts and exchanges spanning Afro-Eurasia from 500 to 1000 ce, highlighting how the movement of people, objects and ideas shaped cultures and histories. The term ‘Silk Road’ conjures a range of romantic images. Camel caravans crossing desert dunes. Merchants trading silk and spices. Far-flung commerce between ‘East’ and ‘West’. The reality was far richer. Focusing on a defining period between 500 and 1000 CE, this beautifully illustrated book reimagines the Silk Roads as a web of interlocking networks linking Asia, Africa and Europe, from Japan to Ireland, from the Arctic to Madagascar. It tells a remarkable story of people, objects and ideas flowing in all directions, through the traces these journeys left behind – including ceramics from Tang China recovered from a shipwreck in the Java Sea, sword-fittings set with Indian garnets buried in England, and a selection of letters and legal texts from a synagogue in Cairo revealing a Jewish community’s links from India to al-Andalus. Woven throughout, encounters with various peoples active on the Silk Roads, from seafarers to Sogdians, Aksumites and Vikings, reveal the human stories, innovations and transfers of knowledge that emerged, shaping cultures and histories across continents centuries before the formation of today’s globalised world.

Due to its arid climate, Egypt preserves a unique range and abundance of evidence providing insights into the emergence and establishment of new religions, their relationship to each other and the pagan past. Over 300 objects have been specially selected for this publication, drawing on the significant collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the British Museum and reflecting the rich cultural diversity of the Nile Valley from the first to the twelfth century AD. Through beautiful works of art, including jewellery, painted panels, textiles, sculpture, calligraphy, manuscripts, glass and ceramics, we gain a better understanding of the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people in this important period in Egyptian history. The book also reveals the different types of sacred buildings - synagogue, church, and mosque - and explains their architectural history and dissemination in Egypt.