Sacred Texts on the Silk Road

As a new addition to the popular Sacred Texts workshop, run by the British Library learning team for school years 7-13, groups are now offered the option of a 'Sacred Texts on the Silk Road' add-on. This hour long session, run by a member of the International Dunhuang Project, will introduce students to some of the manuscripts, paintings and artefacts that were uncovered in Dunhuang, North West China in the early 20th century, and use them to explore how important the Silk Road was as a conduit for religion and ideas through the first millenium.

For more details, following is the article on the site of the British Library

Sacred Texts

Details
Age group: Year 7-13
Available: Monday – Friday
Length: 90 minutes. Please allow more time after your workshop to explore the galleries and public spaces
Group size: minimum 10

Subjects and Key Skills
Religious Education

Workshop outline
Can sacred texts help us to understand our lives today? Are there different ways of exploring texts from different religions? This workshop will help visitors find their own connections with the magnificent sacred texts on display in the Treasures gallery.
Creative educators will work with students to look closely and learn from an array of texts. Participants will be able to view Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Jewish, Sikh and Zoroastrian texts. The workshop will help students develop the skills needed for investigating texts, especially how to look closely at source material.

Sacred Texts on the Silk Road


To accompany the Sacred Texts workshop, we also offer a talk about Buddhism in relation to the Silk Road. Led by a member of staff from the International Dunhuang Project, this session will introduce students to some of the manuscripts, paintings and artefacts that were uncovered in North West China in the early 20th century. This material can tell us much about everyday life on the Silk Road throughout the 1st Millennium and also help our understanding of how important the Silk Road was for the spread of Buddhism throughout the Asian continent and beyond.

This talk is 60 minutes and includes a Q&A. Due to the fragile nature of the material we’re unable to show original collection items however students will be able to see facsimiles, images and replica objects.

Post visit activities
Discover our online interactive, Understanding Sacred Texts, and use it to investigate the Abrahamic scriptures by posing a range of questions to a panel of 'experts': faith leaders, educators, young people, theologians and an atheist philosopher.

Explore 12 stories from six different religions in our online interactive, Sacred Stories. All 12 stories have been animated using images from the British Library's collection. Discover the origins of the tales and investigate the crossovers and contrasts between them.