Dhofar Frankincense Trade

Dhofar in southern Oman has had a long association with the frankincense trade. The most active period was from the first century BC to the fourth century.

Frankincense trees (Dhofar)

AD. During this period the Roman Empire had a great demand for the precious gum. Classical authors say that there was a gold drain on their economy in the eastern empire such was the demand for it. Strabo says that sometimes there were caravans of 2000 camels at one time although it is not known whether such large caravans travelled from Dhofar or from present-day Yemen (1).

Wendell Phillips wrote about frankincense in the 1950s and 60s: ”The ancient kings of Hadramaut had to secure Andhur Oasis to control the vital frankincense trade; the fortress on the ridge was designed to accomplish this objective. Even today (1960) camel trails can be seen leading out to the north-west in the direction of Shisr; another route leads west-south-west to the post of Hanun, where the frankincense collection centre described above was partially cleared… Mirbat is only 40 miles due south of Andhur Oasis, but a direct route is rendered impossible by the precipitous southern face of the intervening Jabal Samhan…” (2). Some Mahra interviewed by him stated that it took 3 or 4 days’ camel journey to reach Salalah from Andhur.

I dispute Philips saying that there was no direct route down Jebel Samhan to Mirbat. In 1999 three Dhofari friends and I walked along the top of the escarpment east of Mirbat until we reached Wadi Kharis (about 1700 m.). This deep valley runs north south and eventually leads to Wadi Andhur 40 km to the north. However, we descended the cliff face along an old narrow camel track and came out at Sawb on the plains near Jufa. This is one of the few places where it’s possible to come down the cliff between Mirbat and Hadbeen.

Traditional Dhofari culture - burning frankincense

Frankincense was exported from ports along the Dhofar coast up until the 1950s. Of course frankincense is still exported today although in much smaller quantities. Frankincense harvested from the eastern Dhofar mountains — that is the mountains above Mirbat, also known as Solot — was transported by camel to Mirbat and further to the north-east, Hasik. In December 1894 Theodore Bent and his travelling party journeyed from Mirbat to Al-Haffa by baggala – an Arab sailing ship – which was carrying a ‘large cargo’ of frankincense for Bombay. The 40 mile journey from Mirbat to Al-Haffa took them two days because of opposing winds. However Bent comments that one of the songs the sailors sang was about frankincense (3).

References

^{(1) Nigel Broom, “Frankincense and Myrrh”.}

(2) Wendell Phillips, “Unknown Oman”, p.201

^{(3) Theodore Bent, “Exploration of the Frankincense country of southern Arabia” (1900), p.233}

Khamis the Sailor of Auqad (Awqad) – Salalah, Dhofar (Oman)

Ruins of Khamis's Palace, Salalah

In 1930, Bertram Thomas (Wazir to Sultan Taimur bin Faisal of Oman) visited Salalah and referred to a number of personalities of the day who had gathered in a large house in central Salalah in his honour. On one occasion I mentioned to a close friend from Salalah about the book by Thomas. He said he had read the Arabic translation of it but hadn’t seen the English version. I showed him my copy, especially the part where he referred to well-known men from Salalah Thomas had met. My friend was very interested in this piece of local history and asked me to photocopy the relevant pages so that he could go through them with his father. A few days later after he had showed them to his father, he excitedly phoned me and said he had some news. I couldn’t wait to meet him!

My friend was particularly interested in a person whom Thomas refers to as “A sailor, one Khamis of Auqad”.

“How many Khamises were there in Awqad in your father’s time?” he had asked his father.

“Only one. Why?”, his father replied.

“I’ve been reading a book about an Englishman who visited Salalah in 1930. He refers to a sailor called Khamis of Awqad.”

“That’s your grandfather,” his father said.

“What?” my friend exclaimed, “but I thought he was a trader.”

“Well, he was, but before that, he was a sailor. He visited India and some other countries.”

My friend was flabbergasted by this revelation. It confirmed that the Khamis mentioned by Bertram Thomas was, in fact, his grandfather. Reading on…

“Khamis, a free man, yet was the father of a slave-born child, for he had taken to wife another’s slave woman, so by local canons the child belonged to her owner. The three  hundred dollars he had paid for the woman was the price of her hand, not of her freedom, and he was now engaged in paying a further five hundred dollars to her master, to buy the freedom of his own offspring.” [from Thomas, B. S. (1932). Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia. Jonathan Cape: London. Page 19]

Again the facts were accurate. Exactly the same information, including the amount paid, had been handed down to my friend by his grandmother, confirming Thomas’ reliability as a biographer.

Arched Window (Dhofar, Oman)

This photo was taken in an abandoned villa in the picturesque coastal town of Mirbat.

An old prayer mat is hanging on a peg on the right, and a half coconut shell used for washing or drinking is up-ended on the shelf, both nostalgic reminders of the way things were.

Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia)

© Ross Hayden. Hamran Fort

As you read through the history and stories I’ve recorded here, and see the photos, I trust that you too will feel some positive vibes from this lovely corner of the Middle East.

Arched Window (Dhofar, Oman)

This photo was taken in an abandoned villa in the picturesque coastal town of Mirbat.

An old prayer mat is hanging on a peg on the right, and a half coconut shell used for washing or drinking is up-ended on the shelf, both nostalgic reminders of the way things were.