Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns

Before 600 CE

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

What are the four most well known ancient trade routes?

• Mediterranean Sea Maritime Trade (c. 1550 BCE – Present)

• Trans-Saharan Trade Routes (c. 800 BCE – Present)

• Indian Ocean Maritime Trade Route (c. 300 BCE – Present)

• Eurasian Silk Road (c. 200 BCE – Present)

What other ancient trade routes were important?

• Via Maris or “The way of the Sea” (c. 3100 BCE – 1500 CE)

• Canal of the Pharaohs (c. 600 BCE – 767 CE)

• Incense Trade Route (c. 300 BCE – 200 CE)

• Grand Trunk Trade Route (c. 300 BCE – Present)

• The Amber Road (c. 200 BCE – 300 CE)

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

Mediterranean

Sea Trade Route

• Originated by

Phoenician Sea-faring

traders (c. 1550 BCE)

• Centered on the

Phoenician trade

centers of Carthage,

Cyrene and Tyre

• Travel by sea was

usually by means of

a man-powered

vessel with oars

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

VIA MARIS

“Way of the Sea”

• Mediterranean

Coastal Trade Route

originated in the

Levant (c. 3100 BCE)

KING’S HIGHWAYS

• Linking land trade

routes connected

the regions of Egypt

to Mesopotamia

(c. 3000 – 1500 BCE)

• VIA MARIS and the KING’S HIGHWAYS

paved the way for the Phoenicians to create a vast

Mediterranean Trade Route by 1550 BCE

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE ROUTES

• The Darb el-Arbain trade route is the earliest of the known Trans-Saharan

Caravan Trade Routes (c. 3000 BCE) linking Egypt to the Sudan & Ethiopia

• Nomadic Saharan Tribes known as Berber were the first to dominate trade

• Expansion of the Trans-Saharan Trade Networks occurred due to the

domestication of the Camel (c. 1000 BCE) and the spread of Islam (c. 640 CE)

Java

Sumatra

Kilwa

Zanzibar

India

Persia Egypt China

Ethiopia

Hormuz

Basra

Dhufar

Calicut

Cambay

Aden

Aksum

Sofala

Zeila

Canton

Madagascar

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns

Before 600 CE

INDIAN OCEAN TRADE

• Incense Trade from Dhufar

and Aden served as the

driving force to open Indian

Ocean Trade by c. 300 BCE

• The Canal of the Pharaohs:

Completed by Ptolemy II

in 274/273 BCE

Created a shipping route

from the Nile River to the

Gulf of Suez (Red Sea) • Greco-Roman Indian

Ocean trade expanded

by 200 CE due to trade

in Perfumes & Spices

• Camel Caravans linked Red

Sea ports to Arabia by land

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

SILK ROAD

• The earliest records of trade along the Silk Road dates to 2nd Century BCE

• Diplomats like Zhang Qian (c. 138-139 BCE) and Buddhist Pilgrims like Fa-Hsien

(c. 399 – 414 CE) were the earliest to record the people and trade of the route

Afro-Eurasian Trade

Patterns before 600 CE

• The Grand Trunk Route (Northern India)

Linked the Mauryan Empire of India to the

Silk Route as early as the 3rd Century BCE.

Still used today by cross-country truckers

• The Amber Road (Northern Europe)

Developed around 1st Century CE

Amber treasured in Greece, Rome

& Egypt as a Jewel & Static power

Danube replaced route by 300 CE

• Domestication of the Horse occurred by 4000 BCE

• Hittites & Hyksos used Horse drawn Chariots c. 1800 BCE

• Assyrians & Sythians developed padded saddle c. 800 BCE

• Sarmatians developed saddle with girth and breastplate to help keep the saddle secure by c. 300 BCE

• Sarmatians are also credited with developing a stirrup for mounting the horse

• The first known double stirrup was in China c. 322 CE

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

CHANGES IN TRANSPORTATION

• Origins for use of the Ox and Yoke can not be determined

• However, it was used in ancient Egypt, China & Persia

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

CHANGES IN TRANSPORTATION

• The Bactrain (two hump) Camel was domesticated around 2700 BCE

• The Arabian (one hump) Camel was domesticated around 1000 BCE

• The earliest known use of a Saddle for Camels occurred by 1200 BCE

• By 1000 BCE, use of Camel Caravans were popular throughout the regions of Central Asia

• By c. 800 BCE, Camels were being used in the Trans-Sahara

• Between 500 – 100 BCE, Bactrain Camels were being used in the Persian military

Afro-Eurasian Trade Patterns before 600 CE

CHANGES IN

TRANSPORTATION

• The Lateen Sail & Dhow

Egyptians & Phoenicians

used Square Sails as

early as 3500 BCE

Arabs developed the first

Triangular sails c. 200 BCE

Greeks were using the Dhow and

Triangular sails on the Agean Sea

by the end of the 2nd Century BCE

In the 3rd Century CE, the Dhow

and Lateen sails dominated sea

trade from the Mediterranean to

East Africa and the Indian Ocean