Interestingly, the ancient Greek word for China is “Seres,” which literally means “the land of silk.” However, despite this obvious link to the name, the term “Silk Road” wasn’t coined until 1877, when German geographer and historian Ferdinand von Richthofen first used it to describe...
alternatively as Pārs or Parsa, modernFārs. The use of the name was gradually extended by the ancient Greeks and other peoples to apply to the whole Iranianplateau. The people of that region have traditionally called their country Iran, “Land of the Aryans.” That name was officially adopt...