Few trade routes in history have had as big an impact on the course of the world's development as the Silk Road. One of the longest, most enduring and famous roads did much more than transport silk and spices from one edge of the Old World to the other. It also helped diffuse ideas, tools, and languages, making the knowledge of one society the knowledge of all societies. As merchants trekked through the mountains, valleys, and deserts between the East and the West, they were, perhaps unknowingly, shaping the world we live in today.
Intrigued? Read on to find out everything you need to know about the history of the Silk Road, and why it's so important.