Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor

From mountain gorges along the Zarafshan River to caravan trails across the Karakum Desert, this 866-kilometre corridor funnelled Silk Roads commerce for well over a millennium, between the 2nd century BCE and the 16th century CE. Merchants, armies and ideas moved through its oasis towns toward Merv, leaving a layered record of ethnicities, faiths, sciences and technologies. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan brought the Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor onto the UNESCO World Heritage List together in 2023.