Civilizations in Contact:
A Resource for World History

This web-based resource showcases the various points at which civilizations have intersected and interacted with each other in the past, and demonstrates the relevance of these connections to our understanding of the present. Whether they be the impressions of travellers concerning different customs, languages, ways of worship, legal practices, or types of clothing they encounter in different lands, or through the exchange of letters between rulers, or the buying and selling of different commodities in the marketplace, these interactions across time and space illustrate the connections that existed between peoples of diverse origins in the past.

In the age of travel by foot, ship or beast of burden, people heroically crossed formidable natural barriers, such as mountain ranges and vast seas and deserts, as well as transcending more intangible ones like languages, prejudices and divergent customs to learn about each other, trade with each other, cooperate and collaborate with each other, and live and work in different parts of the world.

The existence of close interrelationships between past civilizations shows that clashes between different civilizations are not inevitable. Instead, our most basic instinct is to overcome differences and cross barriers. Although history in the past has tended to concentrate on brief, explosive moments of conflict between civilizations, conflict has on the whole been the exception rather than the rule.

This resource, which uses a focus on the five key categories of Travellers, Cities, Routes, Trade Goods and Themes as a way in, hopes to highlight these instances of contact, communication, interaction, and exchange between individuals and groups of people from different civilizations, which make up a large part of the fabric of history, and to show the extent to which people strove to live and work together in mutual respect for the benefit of the whole.

History has also concentrated on the dramatic effects of certain individuals in high places, while neglecting the slow, steady efforts of more ordinary, common people -- merchants, diplomats, missionaries, pilgrims -- in establishing the continuity that formed the backdrop for these dramatic events.

In order to do show these points of intersection, it has been necessary to trace the ways in which different civilizations came into contact with each other in the pre-electronic era (that is, before telephones, television, computers, mobile phones, and the like). During this long period in the world's history, from about the 4th millennium BCE to about 1800 CE, contact occurred primarily through the movements of individuals and groups of people who journeyed from one civilization to another either physically, through travel, or in their minds, through study of the travel-accounts of others and/or discussion with those with personal experience with other civilizations.

Some of these people who moved between civilizations were TRAVELLERS, like Marco Polo and Vasco Da Gama, who left their comfort zones and ventured to places they had never been before. They recorded what they saw and heard, and left behind written accounts of these, many of which survive today. These first-hand observations of such events the Great Fire of London in 1666, and records of other phenomena like the devastation caused by the Black Death, are valuable as vivid eye-witness accounts of what happened in the past.

Of course the impressions of the places that were visited reflect as much about the travellers themselves as about the things they observed. They sometimes exaggerate or distort the past for their own ends, and therefore cannot be considered accurate histories. They are immediate, not digested, first impressions. Sometimes they often did not understand what they saw. Yet if the travellers lived among the people they observed for an extended period of time, they often came to a certain understanding. If they learned the languages – and they often did – this inevitably deepened their understanding. The accounts are therefore valuable for what they record – one simply needs to take their authors' perspectives into account. The information recorded there often simply needs to be checked against historical and archaeological evidence.

There were many types of travellers, and they had many different motivations for travelling. Some were relatively well-off financially and just wanted to see the world. Others were poor, and were fleeing from difficult circumstances or looking for a better life. There were merchants who travelled to buy and sell their wares, and some went out to make their fortune. Soldiers were sent on military campaigns, and diplomats were deputed on government embassies. Monks and other religious figures travelled on account of their faith, some serving as missionaries, and others as students. Of course there were also world conquerors who travelled vast distances in pursuit of power, wealth and territory. On their travels, they encountered people who were different from themselves, customs different from their own, places different from those they were used to, and had experiences they had not had before.

In addition to these eye-witnesses, there were also others, equally important, who recorded the details of the ancient world without leaving home. These are the “armchair” travellers: historians and geographers who did not travel but tended to obtain their information from those who did. Their second-hand accounts are also valuable, because they record the picture people had in their minds of those different from themselves. Much of our knowledge of the ancient world has come from these scholars.

Cities are the major centres where civilizations met and interacted, and for the most part tried to live in harmony with each other. Often people of different religions, customs and ethnic groups lived side by side, or in certain quarters of a city. Goods from other places congregated here, with cities acting like magnets attracting wealth and valuable, unusual things, from the hinterland as well as from distant places to be bought and sold in markets.

Travellers tended to stay in CITIES and other places along their journey, and their accounts describe these cities as well as these other places they visited. As their itineraries show, they tended to cover a broad geographic areas in a certain narrow time range. Cities, on the other hand are visited by many different travellers at many different periods. They tend to have timelines. cities, also neighbouring cities, clusters of cities, cities that connect with other cities.

Because they were visited during a journey at relatively specific time periods, these accounts are time-capsules of what these cities were like at that time. By accumulating the texts of different travellers who journeyed at different periods, we begin to build up views or vignettes of cities through time, and can see how they developed and build up a picture of their histoyr. We can see what changed and what stayed the same. They thus lend themselves to timelines for viewing this information in a sequence. (Whereas travellers visited hosts of different cities and other places, cities were visited by numerous travellers. Therefore while one extends geographically, the other extends chronologically.)

Of course, in addition to cities, there were many other important places that travellers visited – mountains, rivers, scenic spots, spots of historic interest or religious significance, deserts, fortifications, and archaeological sites. The list could go on. States and empires and civilizations themselves are also covered to provide a context for travellers and cities, but are not the main focus. This is another difference between our outlook and that of standard histories.

There are therefore five main routes of access to the information in this website, through the following five key categories: Travellers, Cities, Routes, Trade goods and Themes. In addition there is an "Other" category to take care of topics that do not fall into these categories. These interactions took place across time and space.

The lengths to which people went to overcome obstacles between civilizations.

First have to describe the civilizations, then how they interacted.

The travellers usually stopped at the major cities. For each traveller there are many cities and cities have lots of travellers. For each city there were many travellers.

The trade goods are usually mentioned by individuals (travellers or others) in the context of certain places, -- where they were made, where they come from or are marketed, and where they were sold.

Under ROUTES, the major routes going to specific places will be treated, as well as the trade goods and other things that travelled along them. Material concerning how people travelled on the routes – for instance, information on vehicles, ships, navigation, ways of telling distance, and shipbuilding – will be provided here.

Under TRADE GOODS are the major trade goods produced or traded in the various cities, whether they be produced there or just passing through or ending up there as their final destination. Information about the major markets for goods, places of origin and destination, when they were traded, who bought them, and how much they cost will be provided here. There will be information on how the trade goods were produced or manufactured, how they were shipped, and sold, and also about the people involved in these processes

Under THEMES, you will find out about such things as political relations, religious disseminations, and so forth.

that contact was made, although there were also various types of postal services

This site aims to show that we have a vast, complex, past, and one with many aspects that are shared with other civilizations. Understanding our history – how we are the same and different – helps us to understand the dynamic relationship we have with other cultures in the present.

The site is designed to allow the user to explore for themselves and discover these interactions.

Under Travellers, you will find out which of the world's travellers visited Loulan and when, and something about their journeys. You will also find links to their travellers' texts and the other places they visited.

Under Cities, you will find out about neighbouring cities, and cities on connecting routes with other cities.

The links in the masthead to Travellers, Cities, Routes, Trade Goods, Themes, and Other all work, but the methods of choosing from these Categories are not all functional. The Featured Travellers, Featured Cities, and so forth are the best means of navigating at the moment.

because of the way in which the pre-modern world was configured, it has been decided access to it through five key categories.

There is a vast, complex fabric motivated by the desire to live better lives in peace and harmony that knits us together most of the time. For the most part people have found a way to resolve their differences in the interests of survival, and to live in peace.