f a poll were carried out to establish which form of manuscript, the codex or the roll, the public associated more with the Middle Ages, the result would probably see the codex taking most votes. A monk handling a codex is a stereotypical image of and for the Middle Ages promoted by medieval evidence as much as by modern movie productions such as the film adaptation…
Geographically, of course, the region is central: it is one of the most landlocked spaces in the world, far from any ocean. Double-landlocked Uzbekistan is its most central state, while Urumqi, the capital of the Uyghur Xinjiang region in China, holds the record for the big city that is furthest from any ocean. Historically, too, Central Asia has been central: from centuries before …