From Tutankhamun's mummification, to the rites honouring the god Baal in the Assyrian tombs, from Sheba's offerings to Solomon, to Poppaea's funeral, where Nero burnt more than Arabia could produce in a year, incense has always been favoured as a means of communicating with the gods. Frankincense resin, extracted from the Boswellia sacra, a bush which once grew wild in the Dhofar region of Oman, was then transported over the 2,000 km of caravan routes. The control of these commercial routes and the monopoly of the traffic, made a series of South Arabian kingdoms very rich, and whose wealth was exalted by the historians of the era, such as Pliny the Elder. Today we can follow this ancient Route, led by the aroma of that incense which once made the ancients dream, so much so that it was one of the most important gifts presented to Jesus.
