Silk, Sea or Sand: The Development of Trade in Third-World Civilizations

Trade was important to these new civilizations because it shaped daily life, affected their working lives by making them specialize in making products for sale outside of the region, distinguished elite groups by their luxurious foreign possessions, transformed political life and allowed for the spread of religious ideas, technological innovations, disease and plants and animals. I feel like it was also important because it brought different cultures together and allowed them to grow and develop new ideas. It made life easier for some populations because they now had access to products they needed to live better lives and gave them more opportunities in growth. This chapter discussed three different trade routes- The Silk Roads across Eurasia, The Sea Roads across the Indian Ocean, and The Sand Roads across the Sahara. The Silk Roads moved luxury goods, Buddhism through the activity of merchants (changed as it spread), and unfortunately diseases which had devastating consequences because the people had not developed an immunity to the foreign diseases they came in contact with. The Sea Roads were the world's largest sea-based exchange and communication system that operated based on the monsoons and had transportation costs lower than Silk Roads because they could put larger and heavier items on boats than camels. The Sand Roads allowed the North African and Mediterranean world to connect with interior West Africa and they traded gold, salt, and slaves with the West African empire. All three of these trade routes were important because they connected people across long distances.

Comparison of Civilizations in Africa

The civilizations of Meroe in the Nile Valley and Axum in the Horn of Africa were similar in that they both had long-distance trading connections, urban centers, centralized states, complex societies, monumental architecture, written languages, and imperial ambitions. They were also both in direct contact with the Mediterranean world. These were both the typical definition of civilizations in where they were located and how they operated. They could be contrasted with the groups of powerful cities along the Niger River. These civilizations had no apparent corresponding state structure like Meroe or Axum yet they were able to create a system of specialized occupations and food production. Their system benefited the population in that there were no signs of despotic power, widespread warfare or deep social inequalities. They did however have occupational castes whose members passed their jobs and skills to their children and could marry only within their group which might have caused its own challenges. Africa's large size contributed to a large variety of civilizations which is reflected in the differences of these specific three.