The scene depicted in The Silk Road is from the HAN DYNASTY era: 206 BC ~ 220 AD. The Silk road was a trade route from the Mediterranean to the Orient, lined with markets where people from the East, West and in-between exchanged goods, culture, religion, technology, and ideas in peaceful commerce. For 1000 years along this pathway, there was mostly peaceful commerce, with occasional interruption by war. This global trade greatly benefited both East and West.