Incense Route

A pleasant smell can change our daily mood; it can make us feel relaxed, refreshed, energized, and spiritually cleansed. The use of lovely aromas to enhance these feelings has been around for thousands of years! The Egyptians used Frankincense during their burial practices, while the Romans used it for weddings and celebrations. Incense might be something we view as easily attainable today, but thousands of years ago, it was a rare, expensive, and sometimes mysterious product! Let me introduce you to the Incense Routes and the history that fuelled them.

Incense Routes Definition

The Incense Routes (7th century BC to 2nd century AD) consisted of sea and land-based trade routes that brought incense (specifically Myrrh and Frankincense) and other goods from the Southern Arabian peninsula into the Mediterranean. The overall route reached from ports in the Mediterranean to ports across Egypt, through north-eastern parts of Africa, then the Arabian peninsula, and finally into India.

Incense Routes Map

The Incense Routes comprises the Arabian Peninsula and its vicinity. The sea incense routes had their ports on the most southern tips of the peninsula; from there, merchants shipped species out of the Gulf of Aden to the west, to India and China, and through the Red Sea to the north into Egipt, the Sinai Peninsula, and the region of present-day Jordan. The land caravan incense routes transported the species from the south in Arabia Felix (now South Arabia and Yemen) to the north region, where it connected with the silk route.

Map of the Arabian Peninsula Incense Routes(Green = Sea Route, Blue = Caravan Routes, Pink = Silk Roads)

Incense Routes Location

Aromatics and luxury goods were first shipped from the city of Khor Rori in Oman to the southern Arabian coast in Yemen. They were then carried by caravans northward into the kingdoms of Palestine, Ma'an Saba, Qataban, and also to Gaza. Traders first delivered the Frankincense sourced from Dhofar (in southern Oman) to Mocha, where they were then shipped to Qana and transported to Gaza, Petra, Medina, Mecca, and Najran. It was also shipped to Palmyra and Babylon through the Gulf of Persia.

Map of Kingdoms in & around the Arabian Peninsula. Source: Wikimedia Commons

One of the most crucial trading points on the Incense Routes (from the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Persia) was Gerrha, established as a Chaldean colony by Babylonian exiles.

Gerrha influenced trade routes across the Mediterranean from Arabia while also controlling the aromatics trade to Babylon during the 1st century BC. It also served as a crucial entry point for the commodities that came from India! Yemen also had a prominent position in the incense trade, encouraging many people from the area of the Fertile Crescent to migrate to participate. The incense of Myrrh and Frankincense was crucial to Yemen's economy and was the source of wealth for its rulers.

Incense Routes Timeline

To travel the entirety of the Incense Routes, a merchant must expect to be traveling for six months! Their long journey would first begin with...

Mosaic of a caravan in Bosra

Oman to Yemen

Frankincense and Myrrh would first be taken from the Temple of the Sun in Oman to the Shabwa Temple in Yemen. Here, the caravans would have to pay a tax of 10%. At the time, this was a large sum of money, giving the Greeks and Romans the impression that Yemen and Oman were extraordinarily rich. This area of the world became referred to as Arabia Felix, "Happy Arabia," even though the people of Yemen and Oman did not consider themselves Arab.

Shabwa to Gaza

From Shabwa, merchants would spend weeks traveling northwest, passing by 65 stations and traveling approximately 2,437 Roman miles. They would travel through Yathrib (modern-day Medina) and push into the cities of Dedan and Hegra. This territory was controlled by the Nabataeans, whose capital was the city of Petra!

Upon leaving Dedan, the routes would continue to the ports of Gaza, Caesarea, and Aqaba. If the merchants left the city of Hegra, the routes would continue to Babylonia. The consequences of this long journey were extremely high prices for Frankincense and Myrrh.

Heroonpolis to Aden

In 25 BCE, the Roman Emperor Augustus ordered Aelius Gallus, an Egyptian prefect, to sail into and takeEmperor Augustus control of Yemen and the Incense Route. The second part of his mission (to take control) had failed, but he discovered Frankincense's origins within Yemen at the port of Aden. This prompted the sea trade within the Red Sea to become even more important, as they could sail from the Roman Empire to the ports of Yemen and collect goods such as Frankincense, pearls, and an alabaster-like marble.

After arriving back in Alexandria with their goods, the Romans would wait until Spring time to sail to Rome. The annexation of Egypt, the ending of multiple civil wars, and the devastation caused by Gallus along his exploration only fed the rising influence of the Roman sea route. In the 2nd century CE, the Romans placed a garrison in the Farasan Islands.

Mecca to Bosra

In late antiquity, the Frankincense trade collapsed due to the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, as the religion viewed incense burning as idolatrous.

However, in the third quarter of the 6th century, a Himyarite ruler named Abraha marched on Mecca on the back of an elephant, giving the southern part of the Incense Route the new name of "Elephant Road." This story shows us proof that despite the crumbling of the incense trade, the royalty, military, and migration kept the paths active.

The northern part of the routes is also said to have been traveled by the prophet Muhammed, who was born in the "year of the elephant." It is said that he reached as far as Bosra outside of Damascus.

In 629 and 630, the routes were used by Arab armies to skirmish with the Byzantines; ever since the prophet's death in 632, Muslim pilgrims have also been using the routes.

Incense Route History

For centuries between the 7th century BC and the 2nd century AD, merchants traveled across the ancient world through the Incense Routes. From Oman to Yemen, Shabwa to Gaza, Heroonpolis to Aden, Mecca to Bosra, goods such as incense, gold, animal skins, and pearls were traded.

After the collapse of the incense trade, the people still used the roads, traveling them to visit family, migrate clans, seek religious pilgrimage, or move their armies.

Despite the ethnic differences between the Arabs and the Yemenites, they eventually came together (past simply being trade partners) and were united through the rise of Islam.

Though many of these trading posts, temples, and cities lay in ruin amongst modern civilization, the world heritage committee has recognized many of them in the past couple of decades. Today, you can visit these sites and still walk many of the ancient roads of the merchants!

Incense Route Facts

• The Incense Routes are around 2,000 years old.
• Despite the crumbling of the incense trade during the years of late antiquity, the roads were still active for people who were migrating, visiting their families, seeking religious pilgrimage, and even moving their armies.
• Though not as expensive and rare as it once was, Frankincense is still used and sold worldwide today!
• Many trading posts, temples, and ancient cities have been recognized as world heritage sites, and multiple routes can still be visited and traveled on.
• From Oman and Yemen to the ports of the Mediterranean, the length of the Incense Route are approximately 1,200 miles long!