[German version]

Collective term for the caravan routes from China to western Asia. Used for general trade and interchange, the Silk Road acquired particular significance by bringing silk fabrics into the Mediterranean, where it was highly prized, particularly in Rome (silk had been known there since the 1st cent. BC; for evidence see Seres). It is not known when the use of these trade routes began - it presumably goes back to the 4th millennium BC; it is documented until the 16th cent. AD. Today's climatic conditions - unfavourable for traffic - …