Incense Route

The desert caravan paths that moved frankincense and myrrh from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean for over a thousand years.

Overview

Running up to 3,000 kilometers from the frankincense groves of Dhofar and Hadramawt, in modern Yemen and Oman, through the Hejaz to Petra and Gaza, the route depended on the domesticated camel. The Nabataeans grew rich tolling caravans at Petra, and the kingdoms of Saba and Himyar taxed the myrrh and incense that Roman temples and medicine consumed. Rome's punitive expedition of 25 BCE under Aelius Gallus failed to seize the sources. Trade declined as sea transport, Christianization and later plague cut demand for pagan temple incense. UNESCO listed the desert cities of the route as World Heritage in 2005.