The Silk Road's Forgotten Language: Sogdian Letters — Fexingo History cover art

The Silk Road's Forgotten Language: Sogdian Letters — Fexingo History

The Silk Road's Forgotten Language: Sogdian Letters — Fexingo History

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Summary

 Long before Persian or Turkic became the lingua franca of the Silk Road, Sogdian merchants from Central Asia spread their language from China to Byzantium. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Sogdian language — the forgotten tongue of the world's first global trade network. Using the Sogdian Ancient Letters, a cache of 4th-century correspondence found in a watchtower near Dunhuang, they uncover the daily lives, fears, and ambitions of Sogdian traders. Who were these merchants? What did they write about? How did a language from a small oasis region become the diplomatic and commercial bridge between empires? Lucas explains how Sogdian served as the original medium for transmitting Buddhism, Manichaeism, and even the alphabet that would later write Mongolian and Uyghur. He also tells the story of the letters themselves — discovered by Aurel Stein in 1907, they offer a rare glimpse into a world of caravans, bandits, and broken marriages. A tale of language, trade, and the people who made the Silk Road possible.

#Sogdian #SilkRoad #SogdianAncientLetters #Dunhuang #AurelStein #CentralAsia #Trade #Caravans #Manichaeism #Buddhism #Alphabet #MongolianScript #UyghurScript #Linguistics #History #FexingoHistory #AncientLanguages #EurasianTrade #HanDynasty #MongolEmpire

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