What was the nature of the sea routes used by traders in Eurasia? What types of goods were traded over these routes? What effects did these routes have on state development?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A. Sea routes based on reliability of the monsoonal systems of the Indian Ocean
1. seafarers realized how the changes of wind made outward ventures viable
2. above the equator, northeasterlies prevail in winter; when winter ends, the direction of the wind reverses
3. the monsoonal system in the Indian Ocean freed navigators from former wind and weather constraints
B. Varieties of goods exchanged
1. the sea carried a greater variety of goods faster
2. more economically sound
3. in larger quantities than land routes
4. Greek merchants brought back aromatics like frankincense and myrrh and an Arabian cinnamon-substitute called cassia
5. ports for long-range trade lined Arabia's shores
6. at Gerrha, merchants unloaded Indian manufactures
7. from Ma'in, a merchant supplied Egyptian temples with incense in the third century B.C.E.
8. Thaj served as a good place to warehouse imports
C. Effects on state development
1. regularity of wind meant regularity of trade and port cities grew and developed into states with coastal real estate around ocean trading routes
2. similar effects as land routes
a. brought people from different cultures together
b. facilitated the flow of the ideas
c. transmitted the works of art that changed taste and the goods that influenced lifestyles