Trivia questions and answers, drawn fresh from the well

• Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which ancient kingdom supplied the famous “heavenly horses” sought by Han China along the Silk Road?

Answer

Dayuan

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• Hard Hard difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which Han Chinese administration, established in 60 BCE, governed Silk Road territories west of the Yumen Pass?

Answer

Protectorate of the Western Regions

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• Hard Hard difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which Roman historian described silk as a product obtained from the Seres, people beyond Rome’s eastern trade routes?

Answer

Pliny the Elder

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• Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which Sasanian royal city near modern Baghdad was a major western center of Silk Road exchange?

Answer

Ctesiphon

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• Easy Easy difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which Central Asian city contains the Registan, a famous Timurid-era architectural ensemble linked to Silk Road history?

Answer

Samarkand

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• Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
• The Silk Road

What is the oldest surviving dated printed book, produced in China in 868 during Silk Road-era exchange?

Answer

Diamond Sutra

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• Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which 781 monument records the presence of Christianity in Tang-era China along Silk Road networks?

Answer

Xi'an Stele

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• Easy Easy difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which Chinese port became a major maritime Silk Road center and is now called Quanzhou?

Answer

Quanzhou

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• Easy Easy difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which Syrian caravan city was a major trading hub between the Roman world and Silk Road routes?

Answer

Palmyra

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• Easy Easy difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which ancient city in present-day Turkmenistan was a major Silk Road oasis and capital of the Seljuk Empire?

Answer

Merv

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• Hard Hard difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which ancient city on the Oxus River was known to Greek writers as Bactra and served as a major Silk Road center?

Answer

Balkh

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• Easy Easy difficulty.
• The Silk Road

Which mineral from Afghanistan was traded widely across early Silk Road networks and used for deep-blue pigment?

Answer

Lapis lazuli

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