The art of healing was very important in Buddhism, since the Buddha himself emphasized that health is among the most precious goods a person can possess. Hospitals were established in the Sri Lankan capital Anuradhapura from the 4^th century BC onwards, and several Sri Lankan kings had medical knowledge. A large number of hospitals for different diseases were subsequently set up in the country, which were used both by the people and by Buddhist monks.

While there an overlapping of cultures of East and West via the Silk Routes usually occurred throughout history, the peninsula of Korea, however, restricted itself to mostly ‘absorbing’ cultural and artistic influences from far and wide and few traces of Korean culture have been found in Central Asia. Evidence of this cultural and material appropriation can be found in several tumuli, including buckled belts with a Scythian zoomorphic influence, Roman and Germanic glassware, central-Asian inspired metalwork, Chinese-inspired painting techniques.

Between the seventh and third centuries BC, western Central Asia was inhabited by Iranian nomadic tribes, whose principal activity was cattle-herding. Yet these tribes were closely related to those of the northern Asian steppe, not just in terms of farming and economy, but culturally too. Greek writers refer to these tribes as the Scythians, whilst Persian authors knew them as the Sakas.   

During excavations of Chuy valley, Ak-Beshim, Burana and Red River in Kyrgyzstan a Buddhist temple, fragments of sculptures and paintings were discovered. Several archaeological expeditions to explore and preserve these sites have been launched:  Specialists from central institutions of the former USSR dealt with the conservation of the medieval historical sites of Kyrgyzstan. Besides, a UNESCO project was greatly contributing to the preservation of objects of historical-cultural heritage and training of national cadres in this area.

Alexander, known as ‘the Great’ or ‘the Macedonian’, advanced his armies into Central Asia in the fourth century BC. Although originally at war with the Achaemenid monarch, Darius III Codomannus, his campaign soon expanded to become a wide-scale invasion of Asia, which was enormously successful until his retreat and death in 323.

The sciences of alchemy, chemistry and medicine originated in China, Egypt, and India, but all underwent important developments in Islamic Asian countries and in Tibet and Mongolia throughout the Middle Ages.  Natural deposits of metals in Central Asia encouraged alchemy and experimentation with metallurgic materials, as witnessed by the large number of Arabic treatises dealing with science.  Tibet and Mongolia also made a large contribution to the study of pharmacology and pharmaceutics, with influences from India combining with those of east and west

The monument known among the Mongols as “the hero Dayan” is near the lake Dayan in the territory of Sagsai Somon, in the Bayan-Ulgii province of West Mongolia. This monument that was constructed in ancient times, was witness of  several religious and historical events during hundreds of years.

Global Textile Encounters is a fascinating journey into the textiles and clothing cultures of China, India and Europe. The common thread is how fashions and traditions have travelled through space and time. In this richly illustrated anthology, with its 242 images, written both by textile researchers and practitioners as well as scholars from other fields across the globe, we hear of various types of encounters that bring to life a world of interactions and consequences as colourful as the textiles themselves.

The Silk Roads provided considerable opportunities to enrich exchanges regarding tradtional sports including martial art forms such as Chinse WuShu. On the Silk Roads, nomadic skills such as archery and horse riding hybridised with farming culture to form a number of martial arts styles which were spread as people travelled these routes, sometimes protected by martial arts practitioners. A numbe of hybrid martial arts were formed through the organic combination of different elements from Silk Roads regions.

Fortresses of the Silk Roads, From the Hindu Kush to the Mediterranean is a new book authored by Jean-Claude Voisin after many years of academic research, journal articles and published books on fortifications across the Silk Roads, such as in Lebanon and Afghanistan.