The Silk Roads Programme

Sometimes practical and sometimes a piece of decorative art, ewers are tall thin vessels with a wide base, spout, and handle that have been uncovered from numerous archaeological sites from along the lengths of the Silk Roads.

The city of Balkh, situated on the plain between the Hindu Kush Mountain range and the Amu Darya river (the ‘Oxus’ in antiquity), in the north of modern day Afghanistan, sat at a cross-roads along the Silk Roads, with several trade routes intersecting in and around the city.

Clothing form and design and associated fashions, for both men and women, constituted a significant part of the cultural exchanged facilitated by the Silk Roads.

This article is the fourth in a series on the ways in which societies have historically responded to disease along the Silk Roads and how we might approach newly arising challenges today.

This article is the fourth in a series on the ways in which societies have historically responded to disease along the Silk Roads and how we might approach newly arising challenges today.