“From a 1,000-year-old prayer sheet from northwestern China to a five-meter-long Iranian scroll of the Qur’an, or a richly colored Jewish marriage contract from 19th-century Greece, each of these artistic marvels tells a story about the community where it originated as well as their links with other cultures.”
Visitors encounter books, scrolls, manuscript paintings, and textiles that shaped—not just documented—life along one of history’s most important trade networks and beyond.
“Tools of the bookmaking trade—from a silver-inlaid bronze inkwell from 12th-century Iran to wooden moveable type from 18th-century Korea—reveal how ideas were physically recorded so they could travel across space and time.”
A digital companion site brings to life individual objects from the exhibit, maps the land and sea routes that have connected our world, and provides instructional resources for educators.
