The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, holds a spectaculararray of ancient textiles that were made in Islamic landsand traded along the Silk Road. The majority range in datefrom the 9th to the 15th centuries ce and were reportedlyfound in the caves of Samangan province in northernAfghanistan. They are accompanied by a smaller groupof Chinese textiles of similar age and provenance. Thisextraordinary collection, largely unpublished until now,is a rich source of information not only about the historyof textiles, but also about the Silk Road itself.The collection presented here comprises some 400garments and textile fragments of exceptional beauty andvariety, reflecting the many strands of influence along theSilk Road: Iranian, Chinese, Central Asian, Syrian, Greekand Indian, among others. Scientific dating has alloweda number of these textiles to be dated with precision forthe first time, making the collection an especially valuablescholarly resource.The textiles include pieces of magnificent brocadesilkcaftans; block-printed cotton dresses; a 14th-centuryshawl embroidered with a Persian love poem; caps,sashes, amulet pouches and even an embroidereddoll. Other textiles survive as fragments, displaying anastonishing range of motifs: beasts, trees and flowers;palmettes and vine-scrolls; stylized drapery and Arabicand Persian inscriptions. Each offers a tantalizing glimpseof the lives of the merchants, pilgrims and travellers whowore or carried these textiles through Samangan.