It has been discovered, after many years that, in the 10th century it was completely possible for a Jewish merchant to travel to China and retrieve valuable items. Archeological studies and literary sources have made it clear that there was Jewish participation in the Silk Road trade. The idea of this possibility even existing only came to light after European explorers and archaeologists, at the beginning of the 20th century, began to investigate the routes along the Silk Road. These routes were used by the merchants. The first discovery was made by Sir Aural Stein at Dandan Uiliq. What he found was a Judeo-Persian letter, written in Hebrew characters in the Persian language. It came from a Jewish merchant and was dated to the 8th century. The second discovery was made by Paul Pelliot six years later, while investigating a secret library in the caves of the Thousand Buddhas at Tun-huang. He examined thousands of Chinese manuscripts and purchased a large number to take to France, when he discovered a copy of a prayer text written in Hebrew. This suggested that it belonged to a Jewish traveller who may have arrived at Tun-huang by caravan from Persia. However, the most convincing evidence, by far, was the discovery of a Jewish settlement along the Silk Road. In it were tombstones and memorial tablets, in Judeo-Persian, which were inscribed with 11th and 13th century dates. Some even dated to the 8th century, confirming Sir Aurel Stein’s discovery to be accurate.
With all of this overwhelming evidence, it leads one to question why so much confirmation was needed after the first discovery of a Judeo-Persian text. Why was everyone so skeptical of the possibility of Jews traveling along the Silk Road? First of all, they originated in Israel, which is far from the Silk Road, but certainly not impossible. Secondly, although they were considered second class citizens in their Persian home, they were still able to participate in trade. Therefore, it was completely possible for a Jewish merchant to travel to and participate in the activities along the Silk Road.
