Join us as we travel with monks, princesses and plunderers along the Silk Roads, the network of trade routes that have linked Asia, the Middle East and Europe from the second century BCE to the present. We will explore cross-cultural connections in Silk Road areas through the lens of religion, as we discuss major religions such as: Buddhism, perhaps the world’s first world religion; Islam, spread within 200 years by merchants and warfare; Zoroastrianism, arguably the world’s first monotheistic religion; Nestorian Christianity, considered unorthodox by the established Christian world, but an important belief system to members of Mongol leadership, Confucianism, the foundation of statecraft in East Asia, and Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan which greeted Buddhism as it moved into Japan. Discover the role each has played in shaping society, art, architecture, politics and more along the Silk Roads in history and today.