Incense path

The Way of Benefits (also the way of Ladan , the way of Ladan ) is a trade route that in ancient times connected the south of the Arabian Peninsula with the countries of the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia . ^[1] Through it, from the ancient kingdoms in the territory of modern Yemen and Oman , as well as from the Horn of Africa and Socotra Island, valuable incense was delivered to the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia - mainly South Arabian incense , myrrh and African spices.

UNESCO World Heritage Site No. 1107 Russian • English • fr.

The widespread use of incense in the ancient East created a great demand for them and, therefore, caused an extensive trade in these goods, which caused the appearance of this trade route ^[2] . The incense trade apparently began in the second millennium BC. e. ^[3]

Yemen incense.

In the 1st century BC e. Diodorus of Sicily wrote: “Socotra is the world's leading supplier of frankincense and myrrh . The island is the starting point of the Arabian “incense road”: from here, precious resins and other valuable goods are delivered by sea to Aden and Qana ”(the ancient port of Hadramaut on the Arabian coast at the foot of Mount Husn al-Gurab).

When the Romans at the beginning of our era took control of the sea route to India and thereby jeopardized the coastal incense trade through Aden , the capital of the state, Hadramaut Shabwa, acquired importance as an important trading center. Therefore, from now on, aromatic resins had to be delivered to the port of Kana (15 km west of today's fishermen village of Bir Ali in Yemen), and from there to Shabwa. Incense from Somalia and Ethiopia also went to Cana. If the heads of the camel caravans deviated from the established route, they would face the death penalty ^[3] . In the desert, only organized caravans were allowed to travel along strictly marked paths. Any deviation from these rules (unregistered caravans, "left" roads and smuggling) was considered the most serious crime and was punishable by death. Caravans were a vital source for Shabwa. Therefore, only one gate was set aside for the passage of the caravan.

The wealth and importance of Shabwa lay in the position of the city, which was an important gathering place and organization of trade caravans to cross the great desert of Rub al-Khali. The caravan participants had to pay one tenth of the value of the goods, which was given to the priests of the city temples in the name of the main goddess Xiin ( Arabic: Seen ; Moon). There were 60 religious temples in Shabwa, and the city was the administrative and religious center of the ancient state of Hadramaut.

Incense burner. Around the 3rd century AD e. Found in Shabwa .

The population was obliged to bring the entire annual collection of aromatic resins to the temples of Shabwa, and no one was allowed to export a single piece of resin outside the country. However, there have probably been many attempts to violate this ban. For example, Indian merchants sought to buy pitches at their collection sites. If these violations were publicized, then those who sold resin were punished with death. It is said that, only after the priest seized a tenth of the entire crop of aromatic resins “for God”, that is, in favor of the state, the king allowed the free sale of this product. Then merchants could buy and sell sacred goods. ^[3]

People tamed camels around 1300 BC. e. Camels were the basis of the flourishing trade of the time.

Caravans of three thousand camels from Shabwa, often stretching for thirty kilometers, departed once or twice a year, shortly after the end of the rains. Their path lay through seventy settlements, including through Marib , Nedzh , Mecca , Jeddah , Yasrib (as Medina was called in those days), Petra and others, to Gaza to the Mediterranean Sea . Such a transition lasted an average of at least seventy days. In the shops of Mediterranean port cities, such as Alexandria , workers were stripped and searched at the end of the day so that they would not take home a bit of tar. In order to keep the secret to the vaults in front of the gates of the trading offices secret, they blindfolded the workers with a rag or put a thick net over their heads, so only a few knew the path to the treasures. ^[3]

Over time, the incense trade declined, the splendor of South Arab cities faded. And only rare caravans continued to walk along the old roads laid long before the discovery of incense, transporting the salt necessary for life ^[3] .

In 2005, by decision of UNESCO, the section of the Incense Road in Israel was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in Asia ^[4] . This site includes the ruins of four Nabataean cities: Avdat , Halutz , Mamshit and Shivta .