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4000 BCE
3500 BCE
3000 BCE
2500 BCE
2000 BCE
1500 BCE
1000 BCE
500 BCE
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500 CE
3600 BCE: First appearance of silk in China.
2700 BCE: The earliest known examples of woven silk from Qianshanyang, China.
130 BCE: The Silk Road is officially opened.
129 BCE: Parthians conquer Mesopotamia. The Silk Road to China is now controlled by the Parthians.
27 BCE - 14 CE: Reign of Augustus Caesar in Rome, Chinese silk is very popular.
161 CE - 180 CE: Reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Rome, Chinese silk popularity endures.
527 CE - 565 CE: Reign of Emperor Julian of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Beginning of Byzantine silk industry.
542 CE: The bubonic plague, thought to have been brought through the Silk Road, decimates Constantinople.