The city, now the country’s capital, was long a stopping place for camel caravans plying the Silk Road. And where is the Qizilqum? Stretching from parts of Kazakhstan to southern Uzbekistan ...

Al-Monitor is an award-winning media outlet covering the Middle East, valued for its independence, diversity and analysis. It is read widely by US, international and Middle East decision makers at the ...

Travelling the Silk Road brings to life one of the greatest trading routes ... home of prosperous merchants who thrived on the caravan trade; and Baghdad, a fertile hub of commerce and scholarship ...

Conjuring up images of merchants on camel-led caravans, pilgrims braving bandits ... the mere mention of the Silk Road to any medieval adventurer would have them wide-eyed with wonder.