Incense Road

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The Incense Road or Incense Route connected Egypt with Arabia and India. It was possibly started in the beginning of the Incense trade in 1800 BC Indians shipped incense to the ports of the Arabian peninsula and Egypt. These ports were Cane, Aden and Muza in the south and Berenice, Philotera, Myos Hormos, Leuce Kome and Aila in the North. The incense that was shipped to the Arabian ports was then transported by caravan through the desert to Petra and then to Gaza and Damascus, the incense that was shipped to the Egyptian ports was transported via Coptos to Alexandria.

The Arabian Nabateans, became very wealthy as they functioned as middle men and controlled the secrets of the difficult route. Numerous towns sprang up around oases that defined the road, such as Ubar, Wabar and Sheba. The road followed no fixed route as the caravans continuously moved to avoid those places which sought to tax their cargoes. The Romans bypassed the road by sailing around the Arabian Peninsula through the Red Sea rather than having to pay the Bedouin in gold or silver in exchange for the spices and incense. They were eventually able to gain control of the road and developed it further, building wells and forts along it. But by about AD 42 most of the incense traffic was seaborne as it was a safer and faster passage.

The road is mentioned in the Old Testament, in 2 Chronicles 9 and 1 Kings 10, stating that the "Queen of the South" traveled on the "Gold and Incense Road" to meet King Solomon in Jerusalem. it is also mentioned in the Quran in Surat Saba (34) and in Surat an-Naml (27).