American Museum of Natural History Expeditions travel program OFFERS

New Travel Program Led by AMNH Scientist Mark Norell

Inspired by the upcoming exhibitionTraveling theSilk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World,American Museum of Natural History Expeditions—the first museum educational travel program in the country—has announced a fascinating new program,The Ancient Silk Road by Private Jet. Museum travelers will discover the legendary trade route that connected nations and civilizations across the ancient world. AMNH scientist Mark Norell, Chair and Curator in the AMNH Division of Paleontology and curator of the exhibitionTraveling the Silk Road, will lead the journey and discuss the natural history, art, and history of this historic passageway.

Traveling the Silk Road,openingNovember 14, 2009, will transport visitors back to one of the greatest trading routes in human history, showcasing the goods, peoples, technologies, and cultures from four representative cities: Xi’an, China’s Tang Dynasty capital; Turfan, once the crossroads of Central Asia; Samarkand, one of the oldest cities in the world; and Baghdad.

TheAncient Silk Road(April 20–May 4, 2010) itinerary begins inXi’an, one ofChina’s Four Great Ancient Capitals and the gateway to theSilk Road. There adventurers stand before theTerracotta Warriors of Emperor or see theFamenTemple’s 13-tiered pagoda and its Tang Dynasty treasures. At Dunhuang’sMogaoCaves, visitors view sculptures and murals of Buddhist religious art dating between the fourth and the 14^thcentury and ride camels in theGobiDesert. InUlaanbaatar,Mongolia, explorers go fossil hunting at the Flaming Cliffs in search of petroglyphs. Atthe Samarkand outpost—thetraditional home of Tajik merchants—travelers admire the sparkling turquoise Gur-e Amir Mausoleum and visit Registan Square to see the Shah-i-Zinga Mausoleum, the Bibi Khanum Mosque, and the National Museum. InArmenia, passengers view illuminated manuscripts at theMatendaranMuseumand visit the Mother See of Etchmiadzin andGarniTemple. Completing the journey inTurkey,guests tour theTempleofArtemisand the grandiose Celsus Library inEphesusand visit theTopkapiMuseumto marvel at the impressive Byzantine-style Hagia Sophia inIstanbul, a legendary crossroads of the East and West.

For more information about this program, visit amnhexpeditions.org or call 1-800-454-4149.

The Museum established AMNH Expeditions (www.amnhexpeditions.org), the first museum educational travel program in the country, in 1953. For more than 50 years, AMNH Expeditions has presented educational travel programs that reflect the Museum’s past and current areas of interest and exploration and enable travelers to embark on their own explorations of the world in the company of scientists, curators, and educators. Participation helps to support the Museum’s mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate, through scientific research and education, knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.

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TheAmericanMuseumof Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869
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