The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber. As one of the waterways and ancient highways, for centuries the road led from Europe to Asia and back, and from northern Africa to the Baltic Sea.
An important raw material, amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, the Black Sea, and Egypt thousands of years ago, and long after.
In Roman times, a main route ran south from the Baltic coast in through the land of the Boii (modern Czech Republic and Slovakia) to the head of the Adriatic Sea (modern Gulf of Venice). The Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun had Baltic amber among his burial goods, and amber was sent from the North Sea to the temple of Apollo at Delphi as an offering. From the Black Sea, trade could continue to Asia along the Silk Road, another ancient trade route.
The Old Prussian towns of Kaup and Truso on the Baltic were the starting points of the route to the south. In Scandinavia the amber road probably gave rise to the thriving Nordic Bronze Age culture, bringing influences from the Mediterranean Sea to the northernmost countries of Europe.
Sometimes the Kaliningrad Oblast is called the Янтарный край, which means "the amber area".
Read more about Amber Road: Names, Overview of Known Amber Finding Places in Europe, Overview of Known Amber Roads By Country
Other articles related to "amber road, amber":
... Routes connecting amber finding locations at Ambares (near Bordeaux), leading to Béarn and the Pyrenees ... Routes connecting the amber finding locations in northern Spain and in the Pyrenees were a trading route to the Mediterranean Sea Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amber Way ...
2011, Management Dynamics changed its name to Amber Road ... Derived from the ancient trading route of the same name, Amber Road evokes images of trade throughout history and more accurately embodies the nature of ... Jim's brother, John Preuninger, is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Amber Road ...
... The Amber Road was a European trade route associated with the trade and transport of amber ... Amber satisfied the criteria for long distance trade as it was light in weight and was in high demand for ornamental purposes around the Mediterranean ... of Roman control over areas such as Pannonia, the Amber Road was virtually the only route available for long distance trade ...
Famous quotes containing the words road and/or amber:
“Such were the first rude beginnings of a town. They spoke of the practicability of a winter road to the Moosehead Carry, which would not cost much, and would connect them with steam and staging and all the busy world. I almost doubted if the lake would be there,—the self-same lake,—preserve its form and identity, when the shores should be cleared and settled; as if these lakes and streams which explorers report never awaited the advent of the citizen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Swimmer of noonday, lean for the perfect dive
To the dead Mother’s face, whose subtile down
You had not seen take amber light alive.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)