{"id":2470,"date":"2020-12-16T18:59:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T18:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=2470"},"modified":"2021-01-30T11:06:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T11:06:34","slug":"the-story-of-frankincense-in-oman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/the-story-of-frankincense-in-oman\/","title":{"rendered":"The story of frankincense in Oman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To the Omanis, frankincense is a basic necessity of life – an essential purchase along with food and fuel. Its musky scent fills the air wherever you go, wisps of soft grey smoke curling upwards from chunky pottery burners.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we talked with our guide Hussain about its rising cost he bemoaned this as we would an increase in the price of bread or milk. There was no question that he would cease to buy it, just regret that he needed to pay more. And when we left he gave us a gift of frankincense, a burner (another Omani household essential) and a book about its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Man
Hussain showing us a frankincense burner, Taqah<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every Omani home burns this fragrant resin daily. It perfumes their home; keeps flying insects such as mosquitoes at bay; and has perceived medicinal qualities \u2013 inhaling the smoke is said to be good for asthma, for instance. The best quality frankincense is steeped overnight in water, which is then drunk at breakfast time to treat a number of ailments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And trade in this ‘white gold’ has shaped the history of the country’s southern region, Dhofar, in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The frankincense trees of Dhofar<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The climate of the Dhofar region is different to that of the rest of Oman, with monsoon rains during the summer months when the mountains are cloaked in green. Frankincense trees (Latin name Boswellia sacra<\/em>) grow throughout the region. But the best frankincense is said to come from trees grown in a narrow climate band just beyond the reach of the summer monsoon but still under the influence of coastal winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of this region is inextricably linked to this one tree and the wealth that flowed from trading its resin; a historical precursor to the more recent history of oil in this part of the world perhaps?<\/p>\n\n\n