Silk Road

The Silk Road is important trading routes running from the Far East to the Middle East and through to Europe. Many countries would trade goods between these routes with the Arabs, Chinese, and the Byzantine Empire being major players. Most goods were everything from ores & gemstones, to herbs & spices, to textiles & dyes being a few of the goods going either way. The majority was overland running from deep within the Far East through to the Middle East, and then anything bound for Europe passing through Byzantium. This causes the prices to escalate steeply at point of sale. Some products were also transported between these nations using ships for transport. The Italian States of Genoa and Vienna also made some profit by buying and selling items both to and from traders on the Silk Road. Religions, sciences and technology also flowed both ways too, as well as any number of other cultural ideas.
One apocryphal story has it that a Geatish nobleman has recently bought a small Buddhist statue from a vendor who travelled the Silk Road.