Ancient Trade Networks
Driving Question: Why did ancient trade routes expand?
Local networks may have been more common, but long-distance trade also linked societies across Afro-Eurasia and the Americas. Though risky and slow, these routes moved people, goods, ideas, and diseases—shaping communities and transforming economies along the way.
Learning Objectives:
- Analyze how regional networks of exchange emerged and expanded over time.
- Evaluate how the sharing of goods and ideas such as metals and iron-making skills transformed societies.
- Use claim-testing skills to make an argument about the expanding networks of this era.
Vocab Terms:
Did you know: Ancient Mesopotamia gave us what may be the original one-star review: a clay complaint tablet “sent” to merchant Ea-nasir about bad copper and lousy service. This is an example of the importance of ancient writing that students will understand. A lot changed in 4,000 years, but not customer rage. If you want to read more about Ea-nasir and Nanni, check out this blog post.
No crystal ball required—just evidence and insight to make predictions about ancient trade networks.
Looking for ancient trade route maps? Check out our Roman Empire maps. Have students use the deep zoom feature (the + button in the top-left corner) to zoom in to Rome. What do they notice about the trade routes? Why might trade have been important to political control in empires?
If you’re looking to dig deeper before class, Jerry Bentley’s Old World Encounters is a foundational book for thinking about the role of trade and exchange in shaping the ancient world.
Trade routes connected the ancient world, spreading innovations, goods, and ideas. In the activity, create a map of those networks to understand how trade connected different regions, and then dive deeper with the article to learn more.
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Guiding Questions
Note: We hear a lot about the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. But these periodizations only make sense for certain parts of Afro-Eurasia—like the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Other regions, like Mesoamerica, use different periodizations.
Explore different regions to compare how ancient trade networks affected each. Then, use what you’ve learned in the activity to draw conclusions about the impacts of these exchange routes.
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Guiding Questions
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Guiding Questions
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Guiding Questions
After a lot of practice testing claims, it’s time to make your own. Apply what you’ve learned to make arguments about the expansion of networks during this era.
a system that ranks people into levels of power, wealth, or importance
During the Middle Ages, kings and nobles stood high in the social hierarchy, while peasants had very few rights.