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By the 4th millennium BC, Central Asia had begun to play an important role in trade to the ancient Near East. Lapis Lazuli, semi-precious stones, and tin by the 3rd millennium BC made the region’s resources attractive to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia.<ref>For information on trade objects between Central Asia, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Egypt, see: Boyle, Katie, Colin Renfrew, and Marsha Levine, eds. 2002. Ancient Interactions: East and West in Eurasia. McDonald Institute Monographs. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.</ref> By the 2nd millennium BC, we also see eastern China interacting with western China and Central Asia more so, with objects such as jade being in high demand.<ref>For information on China’s interest in Jade, see: Fossati, Gildo. 1994. The World of Jade: Great Masterpieces of Chinese Art. New York: Crescent Books.</ref> However, much of the trade contacts between the Near East, Europe, and China were very limited. When objects did exchange between distant regions it tended to be traded indirectly by being trade to one state or region, then that region would trade it further down to another region. This made regions in Europe, China, and Near East much less aware of each other. The primary reason for this state was much of Asia was politically fragmented. For example, to trade Lapis Lazuli from Central Asia to places such as Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq and Syria, trade would often have to go south to India, then by boat shipped to Mesopotamia along the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Overland routes were possible but many tribes and small states prevented easier access of lapis by the large urban societies.<ref> For information on trade in the Near East and Central Asia in the Bronze Age, see: Mair, Victor H., Jane Hickman, and University of Pennsylvania, eds. 2014. ''Reconfiguring the Silk Road: New Research on East-West Exchange in Antiquity''. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, pg. 7.</ref> This made direct trade both expensive and difficult at times between far away states.