Historical Frankincense of Oman
A lost city in the Sultanate called Ubar, once full of prosperity dating back to 5000 BC, was rediscovered in the early 1990s and is still under archaeological excavation. The city, in Dhofar in southern Oman, is believed to have been built by King Shadad and the people of Ad. It was the centre of the frankincense trade, as camel caravans once traveled this route carrying this rare commodity through the Arabian Peninsula all the way to Jerusalem. Frankincense was used traditionally during religious ceremonies and also as a perfume and medicine. Historical documents reveal that the Queen of Sheba offered this sacred aromatic to King Solomon.
Even in Greek and Roman times, incense was much sought after. It was burnt on altars and used for embalming. Globules of frankincense were found in the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb. And in the first century AD, the Roman Emperor Nero burned more incense at the funeral of his wife than Arabia produced in a year.
The supreme frankincense tree, the boswellia sacra, grows only in the Dhofar region (and in parts of northern Somalia). The best of it comes from trees on the inland side of the mountains, but some frankincense also grows on the plains to the south of Salalah.
Visually, the tree is not so attractive: a low twisted bush-like tree which lacks a central trunk. And it has numerous prickly branches extended every which way.
When the silvery bark is pared off, drops of white resin ooze out. These drops, known as "Luban", are left on the tree for two weeks to dry into transparent globules which are then collected. Marco Polo described the process 700 years ago stating, "The trees are like small fir trees; they are notched with a knife in several places and from these notches the incense is exuded. Sometimes also it flows from a tree without any notch; that is by reason of the great heat of the sun there".
The globules were worth their weight in gold in roman times but the incense market collapsed in the fourth century AD as Christianity spread through the Mediterranean (which at first did not use incense). Currently, a moderate amount is collected for use as an incense, for perfume, and as a chewing gum.