Editing Incense Road

{{Era|Locations|Culture}}{{WP-REAL|Incense trade route}}
The '''Incense Road''' was an ancient network of land and sea routes trading routes that linked [[Arabia]] to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] world, driven by the strong demand for frankincense from Oman.<ref name= "DB Incense Road">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]] – [[Valley of Memory]]'' – [[Database: Incense Road]]</ref> The land route flourished between the 3rd century BCE and 2nd century CE,<ref name="Wiki">{{WP|Incense trade route}}</ref> being later superseded by transport through the [[Red Sea]].<ref name= "DB Incense Road"/> The [[Al-Ula Valley]] was long considered a mandatory stop along the route, due to its geographic position, availability of water and food produced at the [[AlUla Oasis|local oasis]].<ref name= "DB Merchant">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]] – [[Valley of Memory]]'' – [[Database: Life of a Merchant]]</ref><ref name= "DB Incense Road"/>

During the first millennium BCE, both Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms at the valley took advantage of the region's placement along the Incense Road to develop their civilizations, with inspiration from their trading partners, namely the [[Levant]], [[Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]],<ref name= "DB Civilizations">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]] – [[Valley of Memory]]'' – [[Database: Dadanite/Lihyanite & Nabataean Civilizations]]</ref> and [[Greece]], influencing their culture.<ref name= "DB Sanctuary">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]] – [[Valley of Memory]]'' – [[Database: Sanctuary Ruins]]</ref> After the [[Nabataean Kingdom]] took over the region and established their regional authority at [[Hegra]] by the middle of the 1st century BCE,<ref name= "DB Civilizations"/> it became an essential stop on the route,<ref name= "DB Hegra">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]] – [[Valley of Memory]]'' – [[Database: Hegra]]</ref> allowing the [[Nabataeans]] to make a fortune from caravan trade.<ref name= "DB Incense Road"/>

Though the road receives its name from frankincense, it was not the only good traded, and other items hailing from locations much further than Arabia,<ref name= "DB Incense Road"/> such as [[India]] and the Horn of [[Africa]] also found purchase by the caravans, with spices, [[precious stone]]s, [[pearl]]s, [[silk]], [[gold]] and even [[Slavery|enslaved people]] being traded bought and sold.<ref name="Wiki">{{WP|Incense trade route}}</ref>

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]] – [[Valley of Memory]]''
*''[[Echoes of History]] – Valley of Memory''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACMir}}
[[Category:Arabia]]
[[Category:Economy]]