Religions of the Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century - Softcover

Foltz, R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312233388 ISBN 13: 9780312233389

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000

Synopsis

During the latter decades of the nineteenth century, popular European fascination with the world beyond reached an all-time high. The British and French empires spanned the globe, and their colonial agents sent home exotic goods and stories. The Silk Route dates from this romantic period, in name if not in reality. In the century since its invention as a concept, the Silk Route has captured and captivated the Western imagination. It has given us images of fabled cities and exotic peoples. Religions of the Silk Road tells the story of how religions accompanied merchants and their goods along the overland Asian trade routes of pre-modern times. It is a story of continuous movement, encounters, mutual reactions and responses, adaptation and change. Beginning as early as the eighth century BCE, Israelite and Iranian traditions travelled eastwards in this way, and they were followed centuries later by the great missionary traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam. The Silk Route was more than just a conduit along which these religions hitched rides East; it was a formative and transformative rite of passage, and no religion emerged unchanged at the end of that arduous journey.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Foltz has done a very good job of putting together the various pieces of evidence for the different religions on the Silk Road...a fine synthesis, which up to now is the only one of its kind. For all interested in the present global relationship between religions, the history of that relationship in Central Asia is of the greatest interest." --Hans-J. Klimkeit, Director, Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar, Bonn U.

"...an absolute gem...a really valuable contribution...well researched and well written, it brings together a huge amount of information in an attractive package. The attention to trade and cultural exchanges is most welcome." --Jerry H. Bentley, Editor, Journal of World History

About the Author:

RICHARD C. FOLTZ is Professor of Religion at Columbia University. He is the author of Mughal India and Central Asia and Conversations with Emperor Jahangir.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312233388
• ISBN 13: 9780312233389
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212