Database: Incense Road

Frankincense is an aromatic gum resin, tapped from trees of the genus Boswellia sp. native to Oman, in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Millennia ago, this resin became a prized good for its aroma when burned. It was traded at a high price over long distances, sometimes offered as a sacrifice to various deities so that they might breathe its extraordinary fumes. In antiquity, the strong demand from the Mediterranean world in particular, under Egyptian, Greek, and then Roman influence, led to intensive travel along what became known as the "Incense Road", leading up from the Arabian south. AlUla became an essential stopover due to its geographic position and availability of water, and successive Arab kingdoms, including the Nabataeans, made a fortune from this caravan trade. Incense was not the only good traded, and caravans took advantage of this travel to bring back goods from much further afield. Eventual competition from sea transport via the Red Sea usurped the predominance of land travel.