Frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from the tree Boswellia thurifera or B. sacra. It is used in incense.

Frankincense (whose name refers to its preeminence as the “true” or “frank” incense) is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic al-lubán (“the milk”), a reference to the milky sap tapped from the frankincense tree.

Frankincense was lavishly used in religious rites. According to the Gospel of Matthew 2:11, gold, frankincense and myrrh were the three gifts brought to Jesus by the magi 'from out of the east.' The growth of Christianity depressed the market for frankincense during the fourth century, desertification made the caravan trails leading across the Rub al Khali or 'Empty Quarter' of Arabia more difficult, and increased raiding by the nomadic Parthians in the Near East combined to dry up the frankincense trade after ca 300 CE.

It was said that the Roman Emperor Nero burned a year's worth of frankincense intended for the city of Rome at the funeral of his wife, Poppaea.

The lost city of Ubar, sometimes identified with Irem, in what is now Oman, is believed to have been a centre of the frankincense trade along the recently-rediscovered 'Incense Road.' Ubar was rediscovered in the early 1990s and is now under archaeological excavation.

Articles

• On the Frankincense Trail-Smithsonian Magazine October 1998

• Frankincense Bible Refernces-odu.edu

• Atlantis of the Sands-Archaeology Magazine May/June 1997

Related Sites

• UNESCO-UNESCO Frankincense Trail Dhofar Province, Oman

• Trade Between Arabia and the Empires of Rome and Asia-Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Lost City of Arabia Interview with Dr. Juris Zarins-Nova September 1996

• Pictures of Ubar-NASA August 3, 1995

Reference Material

• The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands by Clapp Nicholas ISBN: 0395957869 (1999)
• Frankincense & Myrrh: A Study of the Arabian Incense Trade-Groom, Nigel ISBN: 0866855939 (1981)
• Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh: An Introduction to Eastern Christian Spirituality-Maloney George A ISBN: 0824516168 (1997)
• Frankincense & Myrrh : Through the Ages, and a complete guide to their use in herbalism & aromatherapytoday-Watt, Martin & Sellar, Wanda ISBN: 0852073062 (2004)

See Also

• Nabataeans