Mongol Empire and Silk Road
Silk Road DBQ Assessment
The Silk Road is a touchstone for world history. It was a rich trans-regional vehicle for the transmission of art, religion, science and disease that also affords a glimpse into the politics and economic systems of the pre-modern world. .
The Silk Road in World History
(Suggested writing time – 40 minutes)
You should spend at least 10 minutes reading, analyzing, and grouping the sources.
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Sources 1 - 6. (The sources have been edited for the purpose of this exercise).
The question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical sources. Write an essay that:
· Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the sources.
· Uses all of the sources.
· Analyzes the sources by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible and does not simply summarize the sources individually.
· Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors' points of view.
You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the sources.
Prompt: To what extent did the Silk Road create an interconnected network? What kinds of additional documentation would help assess the role of the Silk Road in creating interconnected network from the 2nd century C.E. to the 13th century?
Source 1
Source: Roman historian, Cassius Dio, 164 - 224 C.E., commented on a celebration the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar, staged in his own honor around 50 B.C.E.
If I mention one feature of his [Caesar's] extravagance at that time, I shall thereby give an idea of all the rest. In order that the sun might not annoy any of the spectators, he had curtains stretched over them made of silk, according to some accounts. Now this fabric is a device of barbarian luxury, and has come down from them even to us to gratify the fastidious taste of fine ladies.
Source 2
Source: Sima Qian, The Records of the Grand Historian, about
The Silk Road is a touchstone for world history. It was a rich trans-regional vehicle for the transmission of art, religion, science and disease that also affords a glimpse into the politics and economic systems of the pre-modern world. .
The Silk Road in World History
(Suggested writing time – 40 minutes)
You should spend at least 10 minutes reading, analyzing, and grouping the sources.
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Sources 1 - 6. (The sources have been edited for the purpose of this exercise).
The question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical sources. Write an essay that:
· Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the sources.
· Uses all of the sources.
· Analyzes the sources by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible and does not simply summarize the sources individually.
· Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors' points of view.
You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the sources.
Prompt: To what extent did the Silk Road create an interconnected network? What kinds of additional documentation would help assess the role of the Silk Road in creating interconnected network from the 2nd century C.E. to the 13th century?
Source 1
Source: Roman historian, Cassius Dio, 164 - 224 C.E., commented on a celebration the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar, staged in his own honor around 50 B.C.E.
If I mention one feature of his [Caesar's] extravagance at that time, I shall thereby give an idea of all the rest. In order that the sun might not annoy any of the spectators, he had curtains stretched over them made of silk, according to some accounts. Now this fabric is a device of barbarian luxury, and has come down from them even to us to gratify the fastidious taste of fine ladies.
Source 2
Source: Sima Qian, The Records of the Grand Historian, about