Oman / History
/ Earlier Times
The earliest settlements in Oman, as in the Arabian peninsula
generally, date from some time in the 3rd millenium BC. Though
at that time and for some hundreds of years more, Oman was on
the edge of the trade routes linking ancient Mesopotamia to the
Indus Valley, it does not appear to have profited a great deal
from its location. Some centuries later, however, an area of what
is now Oman became of paramount importance to the ancient world.
The southernmost
region of Oman, modern Dhofar, was responsible for the area's
importance. For it is one of the few spots in the world where
frankincense trees grow.
Frankincense
is an aromatic gum from certain species of trees which grow only
in southern Oman, the Wadi Hadhramaut in Yemen, and Somalia.
The incense
burns well because of its natural oil content and in addition,
it has medicinal uses. These two factors plus its relative scarcity
made it an extremely sought after substance in the ancient world.
(The gifts of the Magi to the Christ Child were gold, frankincense
and myrrh. At the time, the gold was far less valuable than the
other two.)
Frankincense
was vital to the religious rites of almost every civilization
in the ancient world. The great temples of Egypt, the Near East
and Rome itself were all major consumers of the scarce commodity.
Not to mention the thousands of other temples found in every city,
town and village. Or the medical practitioners themselves. Indeed,
the writer Pliny in the first century AD claimed that control
of the frankincense trade had made the south Arabians the richest
people on earth.
In the second
century AD at the height of the trade, some 3000 tons of frankincense
were transported each year by ship from south Arabia to the Greece,
Rome and the Mediterranean world. The centre of the trade was
in a place now called Khor Rouri which the Greeks called Moscha.
Though the trade went into a decline after the 3rd century AD,
it still managed to keep south Arabia relatively wealthy for another
three centuries.
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