A generously annotated translation from the Hou Hanshu giving details on the Silk Routes connecting China, India, Central Asia and the Roman Empire in the 2nd Century.

Studies the complex system of trade exchanges and commerce that profoundly changed Roman society.

A critical new interpretation of the early history of Chinese civilization based on the most recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries.

Rome and China provides an updated history and analysis of contacts and mutual influence between two of ancient Eurasia’s most prominent imperial powers, Rome and China. It highlights the extraordinary interconnectivity of ancient Eurasia which allowed for actual contacts between Rome and China (however fleeting) and examines in detail the influences from both ends of Eurasia which had cultural and political consequences for both Rome and China. This volume will be of interest to anyone working on the Roman Empire, Inner Asia, the Silk Routes and China in the Classical and Late Antique periods.

Rome and the Worlds Beyond Its Frontiers examines interactions between those within and those beyond the boundaries of Rome, with an eye to the question of contested identities and identity formations.

The legendary overland silk road was not the only way to reach Asia for ancient travelers from the Mediterranean. During the Roman Empire’s heyday, equally important maritime routes reached from the Egyptian Red Sea across the Indian Ocean. The ancient city of Berenike, located approximately 500 miles south of today’s Suez Canal, was a significant port among these conduits. In this book, Steven E. Sidebotham, the archaeologist who excavated Berenike, uncovers the role the city played in the regional, local, and "global" economies during the eight centuries of its existence. Sidebotham analyzes many of the artifacts, botanical and faunal remains, and hundreds of the texts he and his team found in excavations, providing a profoundly intimate glimpse of the people who lived, worked, and died in this emporium between the classical Mediterranean world and Asia.

Similar in size and in duration, the Chinese and the Roman empires ruled half the world's population at the time of their co-existence. But what did they know about each other? In China and the Roman Orient Friedrich Hirth uses linguistic, geographical and historical analysis of ancient Chinese records to reconstruct the ancient trade routes used by the Chinese and to show what knowledge they had of the Roman Empire. His careful research on the original Chinese sources also tells us much about the geography, history and commerce of the period. China and the Roman Orient quickly established itself as a landmark work. It remains an important and much cited work but is now scarce. This new edition contains a new introduction by leading contemporary scholar Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, USA

This unique collection applies globalization concepts to the discipline of archaeology, using a wide range of global case studies from a group of international specialists. The volume spans from as early as 10,000 cal. BP to the modern era, analysing the relationship between material culture, complex connectivities between communities and groups, and cultural change. Each contributor considers globalization ideas explicitly to explore the socio-cultural connectivities of the past. In considering social practices shared between different historic groups, and also the expression of their respective identities, the papers in this volume illustrate the potential of globalization thinking to bridge the local and global in material culture analysis. The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization is the first such volume to take a world archaeology approach, on a multi-period basis, in order to bring together the scope of evidence for the significance of material culture in the processes of globalization. This work thus also provides a means to understand how material culture can be used to assess the impact of global engagement in our contemporary world. As such, it will appeal to archaeologists and historians as well as social science researchers interested in the origins of globalization.

Art through the Ages in Afghanistan, written in two volumes is a major work. It is the product of many years of research, including frequents visits to Kabul Museum and important archeological sites in Afghanistan, as well as visits to major museums in Europe and America housing important artifacts from Afghanistan. In completing his work Hamid Naweed has also made use of numerous interviews with Afghan and international scholars, local artist and local people living in the vicinity of historical sites. The second volume covering the art of Afghanistan from the advent of Islam through present time is expected to be published shortly after the publication of the first volume.