What is an altar of a 2000-year-old Arabian sun god doing in Italy? Why is coin depicting the legendary Cleopatra found in Saudi AlUla? And what does this all have to do with smell?
Well, a lot. Obviously, the simplest (and right) answer is that the sun god altar and the coins were taken there by people. But why would people travel all that way 2000 years ago?
It all started with frankincense - the stuff that some of us burn to make our houses smell fresh.
Others will associate the smell with spiritual ceremonies, as it’s used in most monotheistic religions as well as Hinduism and Buddhism. In the ceremonial cases, the spiralling smoke is meant as an offering or is supposed to make contact with the divine. Its smell is sweet, citrusy, earthy, woody… delicious.
Well, a lot. Obviously, the simplest (and right) answer is that the sun god altar and the coins were taken there by people. But why would people travel all that way 2000 years ago?
It all started with frankincense - the stuff that some of us burn to make our houses smell fresh.
Others will associate the smell with spiritual ceremonies, as it’s used in most monotheistic religions as well as Hinduism and Buddhism. In the ceremonial cases, the spiralling smoke is meant as an offering or is supposed to make contact with the divine. Its smell is sweet, citrusy, earthy, woody… delicious.
What is (frank) incense?
Some of us know frankincense as just ‘incense’ without the ‘frank’. Strictly speaking – by which I mean, according to the Cambridge Dictionary – incense is “a substance that is burnt to produce a sweet smell” so it can have other ingredients too, like spices, wood, myrrh, and a host of other things depending on where you are in the world and what you use it for.
Let’s just get back to the ‘true’ frankincense first – because that’s where our story of the altar and the coins began.
Frankincense, like myrrh, is really nothing other than dried tree sap – but not from any tree. It’s a dried resin from a variant of the Boswellia tree, which grows in Africa, Arabia, and Asia. The tree is cut, the sap seeps out and is left to dry until it becomes a hardened, gummy resin.
For over 3000 years, it has not only been used for religious and funerary rituals, but also for perfumes and in traditional medicine for, among other things, its anti-inflammatory qualities. Even today, it is very popular the world over. The variety of the tree growing in South Arabia – Boswellia sacra - was relatively rare and thus correspondingly more valuable.
Frankincense was highly sought after in the ancient world – a precious and thus expensive commodity. It was burnt, used in make-up, medicine and in perfumes for the elites.
The possession and use of frankincense became a symbol of wealth and power and there were more than a few ancient world leaders with a predilection for it: Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperor Nero and the most powerful female pharaoh in Egyptian history, Hatshepsut.
Frankincense, like myrrh, is really nothing other than dried tree sap – but not from any tree. It’s a dried resin from a variant of the Boswellia tree, which grows in Africa, Arabia, and Asia. The tree is cut, the sap seeps out and is left to dry until it becomes a hardened, gummy resin.
For over 3000 years, it has not only been used for religious and funerary rituals, but also for perfumes and in traditional medicine for, among other things, its anti-inflammatory qualities. Even today, it is very popular the world over. The variety of the tree growing in South Arabia – Boswellia sacra - was relatively rare and thus correspondingly more valuable.
Frankincense was highly sought after in the ancient world – a precious and thus expensive commodity. It was burnt, used in make-up, medicine and in perfumes for the elites.
The possession and use of frankincense became a symbol of wealth and power and there were more than a few ancient world leaders with a predilection for it: Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperor Nero and the most powerful female pharaoh in Egyptian history, Hatshepsut.
The Land of Punt
Frankincense is used in the process of mummification, too – so it may not surprise you that it was in high demand in Ancient Egypt.
Pharaoh Hatshepsut famously organized a large mission with many ships – it’s still being debated how many there were, exactly – to the land of Punt. It brought back live myrrh trees (myrrh is also a resin), frankincense (which she used to have ground to produce kohl), gold and a host of other luxuries.
This expedition was recorded in reliefs in Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple in Luxor.
Pharaoh Hatshepsut famously organized a large mission with many ships – it’s still being debated how many there were, exactly – to the land of Punt. It brought back live myrrh trees (myrrh is also a resin), frankincense (which she used to have ground to produce kohl), gold and a host of other luxuries.
This expedition was recorded in reliefs in Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple in Luxor.
Historians don’t agree about where the land of Punt was – some argue it’s in Somalia or another location in the Horn of Africa, but others argue it must have been in the Arabian Peninsula.
Wherever this illustrious pharaoh sent the expedition to get her myrrh trees and frankincense – both trees did happen to thrive in South Arabia at the time.
Either way, frankincense and myrrh had been used within Arabia for a long time, and slowly it reached more po pulations outside the Arabian Peninsula, growing in popularity and thus in demand.
It was around that time when the citizens of a small South Arabian kingdom called Ma’in demonstrated their knowledge of the law of supply and demand as well as their entrepreneurial spirit by establishing a route with trading posts toward the North: the Incense Road. It led to Gaza, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylonia… and, of course, all the way back again.
Wherever this illustrious pharaoh sent the expedition to get her myrrh trees and frankincense – both trees did happen to thrive in South Arabia at the time.
Either way, frankincense and myrrh had been used within Arabia for a long time, and slowly it reached more po pulations outside the Arabian Peninsula, growing in popularity and thus in demand.
It was around that time when the citizens of a small South Arabian kingdom called Ma’in demonstrated their knowledge of the law of supply and demand as well as their entrepreneurial spirit by establishing a route with trading posts toward the North: the Incense Road. It led to Gaza, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylonia… and, of course, all the way back again.
So what has this all got to do with the mysterious altar in Italy, or the coins in Saudi Arabia?
So, the citizens of Ma’in – the Minaeans – were instrumental in what would become known as the Incense Road.
Most of us have come across the Silk Road before – the routes via which invaluable silks, jade, spices, and other treasures found their way from Asia to the West.
Although the Incense Road has been less known by a lot of the world population, it was actually at its height at the time that the Silk Road was slowly coming into existence!
The two later connected, creating an international network that was unparalleled in its time.
Most of us have come across the Silk Road before – the routes via which invaluable silks, jade, spices, and other treasures found their way from Asia to the West.
Although the Incense Road has been less known by a lot of the world population, it was actually at its height at the time that the Silk Road was slowly coming into existence!
The two later connected, creating an international network that was unparalleled in its time.
The Minaeans, who took the frankincense and myrrh trade to another level, created trading posts all along their route to the North – among which were Hegra and Dadan, which was in the present-day oasis of AlUla.
Oases like these, with their water supplies and developing agriculture, were perfect outposts for weary travellers and traders. Some Minaeans even stayed there permanently, setting up their businesses at the suqs, getting married to locals (the Dadanites), while still holding on to their own culture and worship of their own Minaean gods. Basically, they became expats.
There is ample proof of a Minaean community in Dadan, including the Minaean inscriptions on tombs in the necropolis there. These indicate that the Minaean community in Dadan even had its own institutions and religions.
Oases like these, with their water supplies and developing agriculture, were perfect outposts for weary travellers and traders. Some Minaeans even stayed there permanently, setting up their businesses at the suqs, getting married to locals (the Dadanites), while still holding on to their own culture and worship of their own Minaean gods. Basically, they became expats.
There is ample proof of a Minaean community in Dadan, including the Minaean inscriptions on tombs in the necropolis there. These indicate that the Minaean community in Dadan even had its own institutions and religions.
Of course, if you stay somewhere long enough, it is unavoidable that you or your children and their children become part of the local society.
That is also evident in the slab or stele here – it actually tells of two Minaeans making an offering to the Lihyanites’ main god.
If that isn’t a sign of integration and intercultural influence in ancient times, I don’t know what is.
That is also evident in the slab or stele here – it actually tells of two Minaeans making an offering to the Lihyanites’ main god.
If that isn’t a sign of integration and intercultural influence in ancient times, I don’t know what is.
A Hefty Road Trip
Let’s take a step back. How did people even manage to travel those distances 3000 years ago?
Imagine traveling hundreds of miles between seemingly never-ending deserts and majestic mountains, now and then making a stop in an oasis.
There, you had to feed your animals and feed yourself while getting some rest and perhaps selling some of your goods at the local suq, where you could also buy other exotic goods that entered the country via the ports… and then saddling back up for the next part of the journey. And then imagine doing that same thing over and over again. You would have to really love life on the road… or maybe, the trip had to be really worth doing and your cargo had to be really worth transporting all that way.
The voyage from South Arabia to the Mediterranean ports was about 1200 miles or 2000 kilometres long. The Greek geographer and author Strabo wrote that the journey from Aqaba (a port on the Red Sea) to Ma’in (in South Arabia) lasted 70 days.
If you were to check this journey on Google Maps, it would indicate over 2400 kilometres and a journey time of about 29 hours by car – more than a whole day of nonstop driving, but still a whole lot faster than 70 days.
The thing is – those 70 days were already revolutionary at the time.
There, you had to feed your animals and feed yourself while getting some rest and perhaps selling some of your goods at the local suq, where you could also buy other exotic goods that entered the country via the ports… and then saddling back up for the next part of the journey. And then imagine doing that same thing over and over again. You would have to really love life on the road… or maybe, the trip had to be really worth doing and your cargo had to be really worth transporting all that way.
The voyage from South Arabia to the Mediterranean ports was about 1200 miles or 2000 kilometres long. The Greek geographer and author Strabo wrote that the journey from Aqaba (a port on the Red Sea) to Ma’in (in South Arabia) lasted 70 days.
If you were to check this journey on Google Maps, it would indicate over 2400 kilometres and a journey time of about 29 hours by car – more than a whole day of nonstop driving, but still a whole lot faster than 70 days.
The thing is – those 70 days were already revolutionary at the time.
A Revolution with Eight Toes
The means of that revolution was the dromedary camel.
People had been consuming its milk and meat for a long time, but around 1000 BCE, they started to use it as a pack animal.
After all, it’s ideal for a climate that, around that time, became increasingly dry – it can go without food or water for days, instead using the energy stored in their hump of fat (the camel does not store water in its hump – that is just an interestingly persistent misunderstanding).
It can carry about 240 kilograms for 48 consecutive days and still walk about 32 kilometres a day. The ancient traders weren’t interested in half measures when organising their logistics: their caravans often had large numbers of camels all traveling together.
An inscription made in 8th century BCE Mesopotamia describes a caravan of 200 camels coming all the way from Tayma, which was another trade post town about 200 kilometres from AlUla.
People had been consuming its milk and meat for a long time, but around 1000 BCE, they started to use it as a pack animal.
After all, it’s ideal for a climate that, around that time, became increasingly dry – it can go without food or water for days, instead using the energy stored in their hump of fat (the camel does not store water in its hump – that is just an interestingly persistent misunderstanding).
It can carry about 240 kilograms for 48 consecutive days and still walk about 32 kilometres a day. The ancient traders weren’t interested in half measures when organising their logistics: their caravans often had large numbers of camels all traveling together.
An inscription made in 8th century BCE Mesopotamia describes a caravan of 200 camels coming all the way from Tayma, which was another trade post town about 200 kilometres from AlUla.
Big Business
Of course, the long voyage and efforts combined with the high demand for frankincense drove the price of it (and other valuables) up.
The traders had to pay for food, shelter, water for themselves and their animals – and then there were taxes too! The Roman writer Pliny wrote: “Before they reach our shore, their expenses mount up to 688 denarii per dromedary.
And now, they have to pay our tax officials.” The best frankincense is believed to have cost around 24 sesterces per pound, which was equivalent to a skilled labourer’s wage for a whole week. Apparently, that high cost did not stop the Romans from buying it.
Pliny wrote that the Romans spent no less than a 100 million on frankincense at the time, which fits with a well-known story about a Roman emperor who rules in Pliny’s lifetime: Nero.
He was said to have burned a year’s supply of imported Arabian frankincense at the funeral of his second wife Poppaea Sabina.
The traders had to pay for food, shelter, water for themselves and their animals – and then there were taxes too! The Roman writer Pliny wrote: “Before they reach our shore, their expenses mount up to 688 denarii per dromedary.
And now, they have to pay our tax officials.” The best frankincense is believed to have cost around 24 sesterces per pound, which was equivalent to a skilled labourer’s wage for a whole week. Apparently, that high cost did not stop the Romans from buying it.
Pliny wrote that the Romans spent no less than a 100 million on frankincense at the time, which fits with a well-known story about a Roman emperor who rules in Pliny’s lifetime: Nero.
He was said to have burned a year’s supply of imported Arabian frankincense at the funeral of his second wife Poppaea Sabina.
If you know that a caravan could comprise 200 camels, and that they could carry about 240 kilograms per camel, and that frankincense cost a week’s wages…. You can draw your own conclusions mathematically, but one thing is certain: frankincense was big business.
The Incense Road transported more than incense, of course: spices, furs, precious fabrics, pearls, gold – some of them imported from Asia and connecting to the routes via the ports and joining the caravans from there.
The Incense Road transported more than incense, of course: spices, furs, precious fabrics, pearls, gold – some of them imported from Asia and connecting to the routes via the ports and joining the caravans from there.
Dadan: an international hub?
The Minaeans managed to dominate the caravan trade for about 200 years, from the 6th to the 4th century BCE.
The trade posts they set up grew and attracted other tribes that saw an opportunity to get a piece of a growing pie and later became kingdoms, like the Lihyanite kingdom that settled in Dadan.
These Lihyanites later gained control over the trade routes and would remain in control for hundreds of years.
Their culture flourished and Dadan attracted traders and travellers, a fact supported by lots of archaeological finds in AlUla, where Dadan was located.
Among these discoveries are monumental incense altars, implying that the Lihyanites did not only trade in, but also used incense themselves.
The trade posts they set up grew and attracted other tribes that saw an opportunity to get a piece of a growing pie and later became kingdoms, like the Lihyanite kingdom that settled in Dadan.
These Lihyanites later gained control over the trade routes and would remain in control for hundreds of years.
Their culture flourished and Dadan attracted traders and travellers, a fact supported by lots of archaeological finds in AlUla, where Dadan was located.
Among these discoveries are monumental incense altars, implying that the Lihyanites did not only trade in, but also used incense themselves.
Travelers brought exciting new objects to Dadan, but they also transferred skills, techniques, art, styles, and ideas.
A remarkable example, that also demonstrates Dadan’s cultural and economic dominance in the region, can be found in several impressively lifelike statues that are thought to represent Lihyanite kings and priests.
Towering over the average person at about 2 meters and 30 centimetres, the statues are striking in their own right, with their toned arms, torsos, enviable six packs and silky-smooth surface.
The technique and stylistic elements used undeniably have commonalities with Egyptian and Middle Eastern sculptures – and those influences went both ways.
It has not been exactly determined when these statues came into existence, but it must have been between the 5th and the 1st centuries BCE.
During the height of Dadan’s power, at about 300 BCE, the neighbouring city of Hegra was founded and slowly began to gain in importance as a milestone stop on the Incense Road, chipping away at Dadan’s central economical position in the region.
Hegra became the new heart of the Incense Road when it became the southernmost foothold of the Nabataeans at around 100 BCE. Are all these years getting to you?
Just for reference – 100 BCE was about 50 years after the Venus de Milo was created in Greece. With arms on, presumably.
A remarkable example, that also demonstrates Dadan’s cultural and economic dominance in the region, can be found in several impressively lifelike statues that are thought to represent Lihyanite kings and priests.
Towering over the average person at about 2 meters and 30 centimetres, the statues are striking in their own right, with their toned arms, torsos, enviable six packs and silky-smooth surface.
The technique and stylistic elements used undeniably have commonalities with Egyptian and Middle Eastern sculptures – and those influences went both ways.
It has not been exactly determined when these statues came into existence, but it must have been between the 5th and the 1st centuries BCE.
During the height of Dadan’s power, at about 300 BCE, the neighbouring city of Hegra was founded and slowly began to gain in importance as a milestone stop on the Incense Road, chipping away at Dadan’s central economical position in the region.
Hegra became the new heart of the Incense Road when it became the southernmost foothold of the Nabataeans at around 100 BCE. Are all these years getting to you?
Just for reference – 100 BCE was about 50 years after the Venus de Milo was created in Greece. With arms on, presumably.
Hegra – a pivotal trading city
So, enter the Nabataeans: a powerful tribe of traders that had settled in Petra (in today’s Jordan) who were quick to expand their territory in order to gain control over the most important commercial routes in the region.
Do you remember the altar found in Italy mentioned at the very beginning? It was an altar for a Nabataean sun god. Apparently, there was a Nabataean trading colony in the Roman city of Puteoli (currently Pozzuoli), and they even built a temple around 50 CE.
They were obviously an incredibly enterprising people… That’s how they ended up in control of Hegra.
The Nabataeans’ capital Petra is known around the world for the stunning monuments the Nabataeans built there – and which definitely gained A-status after they were used as a backdrop in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Do you remember the altar found in Italy mentioned at the very beginning? It was an altar for a Nabataean sun god. Apparently, there was a Nabataean trading colony in the Roman city of Puteoli (currently Pozzuoli), and they even built a temple around 50 CE.
They were obviously an incredibly enterprising people… That’s how they ended up in control of Hegra.
The Nabataeans’ capital Petra is known around the world for the stunning monuments the Nabataeans built there – and which definitely gained A-status after they were used as a backdrop in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
In their newly acquired Hegra, the Nabataeans built equally remarkable and often better-preserved structures. Among the monuments are spaces designed for meetings of religious brotherhoods, altars and spectacular tombs with facades carved into Hegra’s natural sandstone formations.
Hegra Archaeological Site even became Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
The construction of these monuments was a feat of commercial as well as cultural power – and quite rightly too, as Hegra was their most important city after Petra, and central to the caravan trade. Hegra is turning out to be a sensationally rich archaeological site, which keeps turning up spectacular finds, even including a coin featuring the famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra’s portrait.
Hegra Archaeological Site even became Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
The construction of these monuments was a feat of commercial as well as cultural power – and quite rightly too, as Hegra was their most important city after Petra, and central to the caravan trade. Hegra is turning out to be a sensationally rich archaeological site, which keeps turning up spectacular finds, even including a coin featuring the famous Egyptian queen Cleopatra’s portrait.
Another coin found in Hegra indicates who the next rulers of the Nabatean realm were to be.
The coin shows an allegory of Arabia on one side. If you look closely, you will spot a camel on the lower left. On the other side, it displays the portrait of the Roman emperor Trajan.
It was during his rule that the Romans annexed the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE, just after they had built the Colosseum back home. They had tried to take Arabia about 75 years before, but that attempt had ended in 10,000 Roman soldiers having to make a gruelling retreat through the desert.
This time however, they succeeded in making the Nabataean kingdom into a province until the Roman Empire started to fall apart in the 4th century CE. About a century later, the once great Hegra was –mysteriously – abandoned and became no more than a distant memory.
The coin shows an allegory of Arabia on one side. If you look closely, you will spot a camel on the lower left. On the other side, it displays the portrait of the Roman emperor Trajan.
It was during his rule that the Romans annexed the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE, just after they had built the Colosseum back home. They had tried to take Arabia about 75 years before, but that attempt had ended in 10,000 Roman soldiers having to make a gruelling retreat through the desert.
This time however, they succeeded in making the Nabataean kingdom into a province until the Roman Empire started to fall apart in the 4th century CE. About a century later, the once great Hegra was –mysteriously – abandoned and became no more than a distant memory.
The Incense Road: Heritage and Rediscovery
And the Incense Road? Well, it still existed. But innovation again changed things.
During Roman times, it had been discovered that sailing up the Red Sea was extremely feasible with the help of the monsoon winds and better navigation tools – and the trade routes over land fell largely into disuse. They had, however, established the basis for the later pilgrimage routes, from 700 BCE onwards.
Whatever its use, the network known as the Incense Road had been firmly established, as had the –by then – multicultural towns alongside it.
Its development had undeniably become the foundation of what would later become an important part of Saudi Arabia’s history – rich and mysterious, shrouded in stories and sometimes covered in layers of sand. The Incense Road certainly played its role in the development of the modern world as we know it – and the rediscovery of its history, with its abundance of archaeological treasures and thrilling tales will probably continue to amaze us for years to come.
And frankincense? People from different cultures around the world still have their own uses for it.
Most of us have their own memories and associations and feelings about it: it may make you think of home or invoke memories from childhood.
From now on, when you smell it, perhaps you will also think of all the adventures that took place along the Incense Road – the place from which frankincense captured the world’s senses.
During Roman times, it had been discovered that sailing up the Red Sea was extremely feasible with the help of the monsoon winds and better navigation tools – and the trade routes over land fell largely into disuse. They had, however, established the basis for the later pilgrimage routes, from 700 BCE onwards.
Whatever its use, the network known as the Incense Road had been firmly established, as had the –by then – multicultural towns alongside it.
Its development had undeniably become the foundation of what would later become an important part of Saudi Arabia’s history – rich and mysterious, shrouded in stories and sometimes covered in layers of sand. The Incense Road certainly played its role in the development of the modern world as we know it – and the rediscovery of its history, with its abundance of archaeological treasures and thrilling tales will probably continue to amaze us for years to come.
And frankincense? People from different cultures around the world still have their own uses for it.
Most of us have their own memories and associations and feelings about it: it may make you think of home or invoke memories from childhood.
From now on, when you smell it, perhaps you will also think of all the adventures that took place along the Incense Road – the place from which frankincense captured the world’s senses.
Anne de Bruijn | Date:31 Mar 2023
Anne de Bruijn
Anne de Bruijn is a contributing writer for The Living Museum and regularly writes texts and audio guides for museums. She also co-authored Don’t Buy This Book – Entrepreneurship for Creative People and its predecessor Don’t Buy This Book – Time Management for Creative People. She loves art, languages and history and bakes her own bread. Follow her on Instagram for art and food photos @Acertainmissbrown.
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