The Silk Road , the mega highway that linked the far - flung corner of Eurasia , was n’t the only high-flown trade route of the ancient world . In Europe , another historical trade web traverse from the North Sea to the Mediterranean Sea , quenching the dotty demand for " the amber of the Union " – gold .
It ’s inconceivable to say when the Amber Road emerge . Peoplehave been collectingamber from the shore of the Baltic Sea for over 13,000 class , while evidence of prospicient - distance gold trading appears sometime around 3,000 BCE . Regular , more organise amber trading appears to have taken root around 3,500 year ago .
Much likethe Silk Road , it was n’t a unmarried main road , but a building complex of numerous interweaving trade routes . It consisted of a loosely organized internet of roadstead and river route from Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region , down through present - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. Germany , Poland , Austria , Hungary , and Slovenia towards the Mediterranean , include modern - day Italy , Greece , Syria , and Egypt .
A map of Central Europe showing the rough course of the Amber Road.Image credit: Bearas viaWikimedia Commons(CC BY-SA 3.0)
Chemical analysisof gold ornaments found in Southern Europe has revealed that much of it originated in Northern Europe or the Baltic Sea area . Even the tomb of ancient Egypt ’s most famous boy king , Tutankhamun , contains piece of Baltic amber .
There ’s even evidence of Baltic gold in Asia , argue the Amber Road was even more extensive than antecedently thought . In 1914 , two 3,800 - class - erstwhile amber beadwork were chance upon near the west bank of the Tigris in Iraq . Using ripe imaging techniques , scientistsrecently revealedthat the amber originated in the Baltic region .
Amber was n’t the only assay - after trade good traded along the route . Other trade good from the north – such as animal skins , furs , dearest , and wax – were also exported . In return , the “ mass of the North ” would buy Roman Catholic glass , memorial tablet , gold , and other metals from the Mediterranean region .
Prized for its deep orange coloring and translucence , amberis a fossilized Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree rosin that seep out of some species of conifer tree diagram . These tree diagram grew prolifically in southerly parts of Scandinavia and the Baltic realm over 45 million years ago , likely resulting in the vast amount of amber deposits found here .
This part of northern Europe is home to the largest sleep with deposits of gold in the world . Along the beach of the Baltic Sea , it still is n’t strange to find chunks of amber that have lap up . These coastal region also produceso - call “ sea gold ” , which has become smoothed by the sea ’s wave and sometimes features diminutive barnacles .
The beautiful material was widely featured in jewelry and other ornaments , just as it is today , but it was alsoused as a healing agentin folk medicine . Others used concoctions contain gold to guard off evil hard drink , demonic figures , and " madness " .
The material is baked into the culture of the Baltic Region , earning it the sobriquet “ amber of the north ” or “ Slavic Au ” . Legend has it that Jūratė , a mermaid - like goddess figure in Lithuanian culture , lived under the Baltic Sea in a beautiful amber palace .
Unusually large deposits of gold can also be situate in the Mediterranean , most notably inSicilyat the foothill of the mountains Castrogiovanni ( now anticipate Enna ) and Caltanissetta . It also appears that people were cognizant of these deposit in ancient time . This hasled many to wonderwhy the Greeks and Egyptians obtained their amber from Northern Europe when they could have simply ship it over the Mediterranean .
Still today , however , Baltic amber is extremely seek - after for its effective feeling and unique chemical composition .
