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45-527: During ancient times, Timna was an important hub in the famous Incense Route , which supplied Arabian and Indian incense via camel caravan to ports on the Mediterranean Sea , most notably Gaza , and Petra . An American excavation of Timna took place in the 1950s chronicled in the book "Qataban and Sheba" by the American archaeologist Wendell Phillips . In 1962, an alabaster head and

90-760: A 2006 study, an ecologist at Wageningen University & Research claimed that, by the late-1990s, Boswellia papyrifera trees in Eritrea were becoming hard to find. In 2019, a new paper predicted a 50% reduction in Boswellia papyrifera within the next two decades. This species, found mainly in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan, accounts for about two-thirds of global frankincense production. The paper warns that all Boswellia species are threatened by habitat loss and overexploitation. Most Boswellia grow in harsh, arid regions beset by poverty and conflict. Harvesting and selling

135-578: A block with writing was found by a British squadron on patrol. The head was discovered about 500 yards from the main wall and gate, the only structures left standing. The block was sent to the Manchester Museum and in a letter by the curator it was described as being a link between Egyptian and Arabic. This article about a location in Yemen is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Incense Route The incense trade route

180-521: A range of gum resins termed duaka and kankamon and mok rotu. Among the most important trading points of the incense trade route from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea was Gerrha in the Persian Gulf, reported by the historian Strabo to have been founded by Babylonian exiles as a Chaldean colony. Gerrha exercised influence over the incense trade routes across Arabia to

225-603: A standstill by the poor economic conditions of the third century, however, when the economic situation improved again under the Tetrarchy many things had changed. By this time, the two main routes in use seem to have been the Wadi Sirhan , now carrying trade which formerly would have passed through Palmyra , and Aila , receiving goods from India and Arabia which before had gone to the Egyptian Red Sea ports. At

270-486: A westerly escarpment that runs parallel to the coast; Cal Miskeed, including Hantaara and Habeeno plateau and a middle segment of the frankincense-growing escarpment; Karkaar mountains or eastern escarpment, which lies at the eastern fringe of the frankinscence escarpment. In Dhofar , Oman , frankincense species grow north of Salalah . It was traded in the ancient coastal city of Sumhuram, now Khor Rori , and Al-Baleed , an ancient port. In 2000, UNESCO inscribed

315-638: Is also evidence to support that products from the Dhofar region were traded with the Sumerian-Magan people of Dilmun and Qatar as the Sumerian people used some of these resins for medicinal purposes. The tolls levied by the owners of wells and other facilities added to the overall cost of these luxury goods. The Nabateans built Petra , which stood halfway between the opening to the Gulf of Akaba and

360-533: Is available in various grades, which depends on the time of harvesting. The resin is hand-sorted for quality. The English word frankincense derives from the Old French expression franc encens , meaning 'true incense ', maybe with the sense of 'high quality incense '. The adjective franc in Old French meant 'noble, true', in this case perhaps 'pure'; although franc is ultimately derived from

405-581: Is done two to three times per year with the final taps producing the best tears because of their higher aromatic terpene , sesquiterpene and diterpene content. Generally speaking, the more opaque resins are the best quality. The main species in trade are: Other notable species: Recent studies indicate that frankincense tree populations are declining, partly from overexploitation . Heavily tapped trees produce seeds that germinate at only 16% while seeds of trees that had not been tapped germinate at more than 80%. In addition, burning, grazing, and attacks by

450-534: Is produced by steam distillation of the tree resin. The oil's chemical components are 75% monoterpenes , sesquiterpenes , and ketones . Contrary to some commercial claims, steam distilled frankincense oils do not contain the insufficiently volatile boswellic acids (triterpenoids), although they may be present in solvent extractions. The chemistry of the essential oil is mainly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, such as alpha-pinene, Limonene, alpha-Thujene, and beta-Pinene with small amounts of diterpenoid components being

495-605: Is used for diabetes, gastritis and stomach ulcer. The oil is used in Abrahamic religions to cleanse a house or building of bad or evil energy—including used in exorcisms and to bless one's being (like the bakhoor commonly found in Persian Gulf cultures by spreading the fumes towards the body). The incense offering occupied a prominent position in the sacrificial legislation of the ancient Hebrews. The Book of Exodus (30:34–38) prescribes frankincense, blended with equal amounts of three aromatic spices, to be ground and burnt in

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540-634: The Arabian Peninsula for more than 5,000 years. Frankincense was also traded from the Horn of Africa during the Silk Road era. Greek historian Herodotus wrote in The History that frankincense was harvested from trees in southern Arabia. He reported that the gum was dangerous to harvest because of winged snakes that guard the trees and that the smoke from burning storax would drive

585-623: The Biblical Magi to Jesus at his nativity as described in the Gospel of Matthew . Thousands of tons of frankincense are traded every year to be used in religious ceremonies as incense in thuribles and by makers of perfumes, natural medicines, and essential oils . In the Horn of Africa, frankincense is harvested in the Bari and Sanaag regions: mountains lying at the northwest of Erigavo ; El Afweyn District ; Cal Madow mountain range,

630-633: The Dead Sea at a point where the Incense Route from Arabia to Damascus was crossed by the overland route from Petra to Gaza . This position gave the Nabateans a hold over the trade along the Incense Route. In order to control the Incense Route from the Nabateans a Greek military expedition was undertaken, without success, by Antigonus Cyclops , one of Alexander of Macedonia 's generals. The Nabatean control over trade increased and spread to

675-682: The Horn of Africa , rare woods, feathers , animal skins, Somali frankincense , gold, and slaves . The incense land trade from South Arabia to the Mediterranean flourished between roughly the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD. The Egyptians had traded in the Red Sea , importing spices, gold and exotic wood from the " Land of Punt " and from Arabia. Indian goods were brought in Arabian and Indian vessels to Aden . Rawlinson identifies

720-502: The Mediterranean Sea . It was also shipped to Babylon and Palmyra via the Persian Gulf . The Roman trade with India kept increasing, and according to Strabo (II.5.12.): At any rate, when Gallus was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the Nile as far as Syene and the frontiers of Ethiopia , and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India, whereas formerly, under

765-547: The Negev Desert , are spread along routes linking them to the Mediterranean end of the Incense and Spice route. Together they reflect the hugely profitable trade in frankincense and myrrh from South Arabia to the Mediterranean, which flourished from the 3rd century B.C. until the 2nd century A.D. With the vestiges of their sophisticated irrigation systems, urban constructions, forts, and caravanserai they bear witness to

810-658: The Ptolemies , only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise. According to a historian: The third century would thus appear to be a significant time in the history of the incense trade in Arabia. During the political and economic crisis of that century the nature of the trade changed dramatically; prior to that time the incense route from South Arabia seems to have continued to function. Much of this trade seems to have been brought to

855-841: The Roman-Persian Wars the areas under the Roman Byzantine Empire were captured by Khosrow I of the Persian Sassanian Dynasty. The Arabs, led by 'Amr ibn al-'As , crossed into Egypt in late 639 or early 640. This advance marked the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the fall of ports such as Alexandria , used to secure trade with India by the Greco-Roman world since the Ptolemaic dynasty . Several centuries after

900-443: The longhorn beetle have reduced the tree population. Clearing of frankincense woodlands for conversion to agriculture is also a major threat. These are some of the chemical compounds present in frankincense: Among various plants in the genus Boswellia , only Boswellia sacra , Boswellia serrata and Boswellia papyrifera have been confirmed to contain significant amounts of boswellic acids. Frankincense has been traded on

945-694: The magi "from the East" presented to the Christ Child ( Matthew 2:11 ). In traditional Chinese medicine , frankincense ( Chinese : 乳香 rǔ xiāng ) along with myrrh ( 沒藥 mò yào ) are considered to have anti-bacterial properties and blood-moving uses. It can be used topically or orally, also used in surgical and internal medicine of traditional Chinese medicine. It is used to relieve pain, remove blood stasis, promote blood circulation and treat deafness, stroke, locked jaw, and abnormalities in women's menstruation . The essential oil of frankincense

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990-572: The Indian and Arab middlemen weakened with the development of monsoon trade by the Greeks through the discovery of the direct route to India ( Hippalus ), forcing the Parthian and Arabian middlemen to adjust their prices so as to compete on the Roman market with the goods now being bought in by a direct sea route to India. Indian ships sailed to Egypt as the maritime routes of Southern Asia were not under

1035-606: The Mahra region. Assyrian documents indicate that Tiglath-Pileser III advanced through Phoenicia to Gaza . Gaza was eventually sacked and the ruler of Gaza escaped to Egypt but later continued to act as a vassal administrator. The motive behind the attack was to gain control of the South Arabian incense trade which had prospered along the region. I.E.S. Edwards connects the Syro-Ephraimite War to

1080-553: The Mediterranean and controlled the aromatics trade to Babylon in the 1st century BC. Gerrha was one of the important entry ports for goods shipped from India. Due to its prominent position in the incense trade, Yemen attracted settlers from the Fertile Crescent . The frankincense and myrrh trees were crucial to the economy of Yemen and were recognized as a source of wealth by its rulers. Recent exploration discovered an ancient trade route through eastern Yemen in

1125-724: The Red Sea each year. An earlier commentator on the significance of the trade, in terms of the connectivity of civilisations on both sides of the Red Sea from the time of the Queen of Sheba, was the British explorer Theodore Bent ; it was Bent who identified the trading site of Moscha Limen in February 1895. Frankincense from Dhofar was collected at Moscha Limen . It was shipped to Qana and taken overland to Shabwa and further North to Najran , Mecca , Medina , Petra and to Gaza on

1170-690: The West and the North. The replacement of Greece by the Roman empire as the administrator of the Mediterranean basin led to the resumption of direct trade with the east. According to a historian, "The South Arabs in protest took to pirate attacks over the Roman ships in the Gulf of Aden . In response, the Romans destroyed Aden and favoured the Western Abyssinian coast of the Red Sea." The monopoly of

1215-875: The commercial centre for the trade in gums has been Aden and Oman . Early ritual texts from Egypt show that incense was being brought to the upper Nile by land traders, but perhaps the most spectacular evidence of this trade is provided by the frescos dated to around 1500 BC on the walls of the temple at Thebes commemorating the journey of a fleet that the Queen of Egypt had sent to the Land of Punt . Five ships are depicted in these reliefs, piled high with treasure, and one of them shows thirty-one small incense trees in tubs being carried on board. The Periplus Maris Erythraei and other Greek texts refer to several coastal sites in Somalia , Southern Arabia and India involved with trade in frankincense , myrrh , cassia , bdellium and

1260-765: The control of a single power. According to one historian: The trade with Arabia and India in incense and spices became increasingly important, and Greeks for the first time began to trade directly with India. The discovery, or rediscovery, of the sea-route to India is attributed to a certain Eudoxos , who was sent out for this purpose towards the end of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes II (died 116 BC). Eudoxos made two voyages to India, and subsequently, having quarrelled with his Ptolemaic employers, perished in an unsuccessful attempt to open up an alternative sea route to India, free of Ptolemaic control, by sailing around Africa. The establishment of direct contacts between Egypt and India

1305-738: The demise of the incense trade, coffee was responsible for bringing back Yemen to international commerce via the Red Sea port of al-Mocha . Finally, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in the 15th century, marking the beginning of Turkish control over the most direct trade routes between Europe and Asia. UNESCO 's World Heritage Committee meeting on November 27, 2000, in Cairns , Australia attached World Heritage Site status to The Frankincense Trail in Oman . The official citation reads: The frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah and

1350-451: The depths of the remotest mountains; the trunk of the tree is notched with a hatchet, upon which the resin flows out, and, when hardened, turns into incense, which is gathered and made into lumps; it is transported on elephants to the Dashi ports, then on ship to Sanfoqi ; which is why it was known as a product of Sanfoqi. In Christian tradition , frankincense is one of the gifts given by

1395-656: The desire of the Israelites and the Aramaeans to control the northern end of the Incense Route, which ran up from Southern Arabia and could be tapped by commanding Transjordan . Archaeological inscriptions also speak of booty retrieved from the land of the mu-u-na-a-a , possibly Meunites mentioned in the Old Testament . Some scholars identify this group as the Minaeans of South Arabia, who were involved with

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1440-562: The end of the sixth century Isidore of Seville enumerated the aromatics still being imported into Visigothic Spain . Of aromatic trees ( de arboris aromaticis ) Isidore listed in his encyclopedia myrrh , pepper , cinnamon , amomum ( cardamom ?) and cassia ; of aromatic herbs ( de herbis aromaticis ), nard , saffron , cardamom, would have arrived through the trade routes, others were available in Spain: thyme, aloes, rose, violet, lily, gentian , wormwood , fennel and others. Following

1485-470: The incense trade and occupied the northern trading outposts of the Incense Route. Aromatics from Dhofar and luxury goods from India brought wealth to the kingdoms of Arabia. The aromatics of Dhofar were shipped out from the natural harbour of Khor Rori towards the western inhospitable South Arabian coast. The caravans carried these products north to Shabwa and from there on to the kingdoms of Qataban , Saba , Ma'in , and Palestine up to Gaza. There

1530-412: The long-debated "ships of Tarshish ," as a Tyrian fleet equipped at Ezion-Geber that made several trading voyages to the east bringing back gold , silver , ivory and precious stones. These goods were transshipped at the port of Ophir . One historian said: In the ancient period, it would seem that South Arabia and the Horn of Africa were the major suppliers of incense, while in modern times

1575-596: The name refers to the quality of incense brought to Western Europe, not to the Franks themselves. Southern Arabia was an exporter of frankincense in antiquity, with some of it being traded as far as China. The 13th-century Chinese writer and customs inspector Zhao Rugua wrote that Ruxiang or xunluxiang ( Chinese : 乳香 rǔ xiāng / 薰陸香 xūn lù xiāng ) comes from the three Dashi states (Chinese: 大食 dàshí - Caliphate (Arab Muslims)) of Maloba ( Murbat ), Shihe ( Shihr ), and Nufa ( Dhofar ), from

1620-661: The remains of the caravan oasis of Shisr/Wubar and the affiliated ports of Khor Rori and Al-Balid vividly illustrate the trade in frankincense that flourished in this region for many centuries, as one of the most important trading activities of the ancient and medieval world. The World Heritage Committee, headed by Themba Wakashe, recorded Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev on UNESCO's World Heritage List on July 15, 2005. The official citation reads: The four Nabatean towns of Haluza , Mamshit , Avdat and Shivta , along with associated fortresses and agricultural landscapes in

1665-642: The sacred altar before the Ark of the Covenant in the wilderness Tabernacle , where it was meant to be a holy offering—not to be enjoyed for its fragrance. Scholars have identified frankincense as what the Book of Jeremiah (6:20) relates was imported from Sheba during the 6th century BC Babylonian captivity . Frankincense is mentioned in the New Testament as one of the three gifts (with gold and myrrh ) that

1710-623: The sites as a World Heritage Site Land of Frankincense . In 1998, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned that one of the primary frankincense species, Boswellia sacra , is "near threatened". Frankincense trees are not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora , but experts argue that Boswellia species meet the criteria for protection. In

1755-595: The snakes away. Pliny the Elder also mentioned frankincense in his Naturalis Historia . Frankincense, which was used in the Roman Empire prior to the spread of Christianity, was reintroduced to Western Europe possibly by Frankish Crusaders and other Western Europeans on their journeys to the Eastern Roman Empire , where it was commonly used in church services. Although named frank incense,

1800-446: The tree's resin is one of the only sources of income for the inhabitants, resulting in overtapping. Limited clinical studies have provided weak evidence for the use of frankincense resin in certain disease conditions, but the inconsistent, low quality of research remains inconclusive for determining any effect. The Egyptians cleansed body cavities in the mummification process with frankincense and natron . In Persian medicine , it

1845-566: The tribal name of the Franks , it is not a direct reference to them in the word francincense . The word for frankincense in the Koine Greek of the New Testament, λίβανος , líbanos (or λιβανωτός , libanōtós ), is cognate with the name of Lebanon (Greek: Λίβανος ); the same can be said with regard to Arabic, Phoenician, Hebrew, and Vulgar Latin : lĭbănus . This is postulated to be because they both derive from

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1890-642: The way in which the harsh desert was settled for trade and agriculture. Frankincense Frankincense , also known as olibanum ( / oʊ ˈ l ɪ b ə n ə m / ), is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes , obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia in the family Burseraceae . The word is from Old French franc encens ('high-quality incense'). There are several species of Boswellia that produce true frankincense: Boswellia sacra ( syn. B. bhaw-dajiana , syn. B. carteri ), B. frereana , B. serrata ( B. thurifera , Indian frankincense), and B. papyrifera . Resin from each

1935-867: The word for 'white' and that the spice route went via Mount Lebanon (Koinē Greek: Λίβανος , romanized:  Libanos ). Medieval Latin : olibanum derived from λίβανος or libanus . The leading " o " may have come from Latin : oleum , lit.   'oil', or from the Greek article o- or Arabic article al- . Other names include Arabic : اللبان , romanized :  al-lubān , Persian : کندر , romanized :  kondor , Syriac : בוּסמִין , romanized :  busmin , Hebrew : לבונה , romanized :  ləvonā , Bengali : লোবান, ধুনো , romanized :  lōban, dhunō , Somali : foox , Turkish : akgünlük , Classical Latin : tūs . The trees start producing resin at about eight to 10 years old. Tapping

1980-637: Was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense , spices and other luxury goods , stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant and Egypt through Northern East Africa and Arabia to India and beyond. These routes collectively served as channels for the trading of goods such as Arabian frankincense and myrrh ; Indian spices , precious stones , pearls , ebony , silk and fine textiles ; and from

2025-530: Was probably made possible by a weakening of Arab power at this period, for the Sabaean kingdom of South-western Arabia collapsed and was replaced by Himyarite Kingdom around 115 BC. Imports into Egypt of cinnamon and other eastern spices, such as pepper, increased substantially, though the Indian Ocean trade remained for the moment on quite a small scale, no more than twenty Egyptian ships venturing outside

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