[Elliott Jackalope]

Consider how the ancient Syrians guarded their knowlege of iron working, and then consider how valuable the knowlege of a place where people have a material that is highly prized by your local community, but there it is cheap and common?

It is my personal belief that travel in the ancient world was much more common and much more widespread than modern archeology is willing to concede, and that the primary motivation for this travel was economic. My theory is that the knowlege of these distant places and what goods were to be traded was kept as a closely guarded secret by various families and tribes over generations.

[blam]

"It is my personal belief that travel in the ancient world was much more common and much more widespread than modern archeology is willing to concede."

I agree. However, I believe a lot of the migrations were the result of famines, plagues and numerous other catastrophies.

In fact, I believe these folks found out in the Chinese desert were there as a consequence of the flooding of the Black Sea (Noah's Flood?) in 5,600BC.