Not many exhibitions turn the history of the world upside down. The British Museum's mesmerising Silk Roads does, by showing how Asia, Europe and north Africa shared their cultures more than a millennium ago. Far from developing in isolation, let alone in a "clash of civilisations", east and west were once connected by epic trade routes known as the Silk Roads that carried China's precious discovery, silk, across the thenknown world. The British Museum turns it into a fairytale of magic and beauty, as you follow the merchants' routes to fabulous oases, desert palaces, synagogues, mosques and burial mounds.
You reach the first oasis by clay camel, to be precise a two-humped Bactrian camel of painted ceramic, nearly a metre tall. This superb eighthcentury statue comes from a tomb in Henan province, China. Tied to its saddle are bolts of silk that were worth crossing worlds to sell or exchange.
Joining the long-dead rider of this grumpy, resilient beast, you travel westwards to Dunhuang, an oasis city on the eastern edge of the Gobi desert. Today it is in China, but between AD786 and AD848 this Silk Roads stop was ruled by the mighty Tibetan empire. At its temple complex of Mogao, Buddhist art treasures were discovered in 1900 in a hidden cave that transport you to new realms of wonder.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 04, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 04, 2024 من The Guardian Weekly.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
DNA sheds new light on victim of doomed Arctic trip
For more than a century, the bones of sailors who joined polar explorer Sir John Franklin's ill-fated Northwest Passage expedition lay scattered on the rocky shores of an Arctic island.
Singer's case highlights rising crisis in online gambling
In less than 24 hours, Gusttavo Lima, one of the most famous Brazilian country singers, sang at a rodeo in rural São Paulo state, watched Akon perform at the Rock in Rio festival, jetted to Miami - and became the target of an arrest warrant on suspicion of money laundering.
Repeated risk Targeting of Hezbollah leaders has yet to deal group a fatal blow
In 1992, Israeli media celebrated an assassination.
Be a batch maker: cook-ahead ideas for effortless meals and treats
Cook-once, eat-all-week recipes are a godsend, just so long as they're versatile. \"I would roast a load of tomatoes to make sauce,\" says Jess Elliott Dennison, author of Midweek Recipes. \"You get that fresh flavour.\"
Where reality meets Nintendo
Anew museum in Kyoto takes fans of the Japanese gaming giant’ products on anenchanting trip down virtualmemory lane if only youcan get a ticket...
Silk Roads spin a tale of collective treasures
Amesmerising show at the British Museum follows China’ epic ancient trade routes through fabulous oases, desert palaces and burial mounds
'More people say they've seen an alien than a trans person'
Harper Steele came out as a trans woman in 2022 at the age of 61. Her friend Will Ferrell had questions. So why not take a road trip and make a documentary about it?
Trump v Harris has opened up a gulf between the sexes
I hesitate to give JD Vance any ideas, but if American women were denied the vote, Donald Trump would be restored to the White House in a landslide.
Seeing double
What does it feel like to discover, in adulthood, that you are a twin? Here, five sets of brothers and sisters tell their stories of meeting for the first time and what happened next
The shapeshifter
Giorgia Meloni been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she worked hard to achieve a degree of respectability and has won over many heads of Europe, including the new UK prime minister. Should we be worried?