Ancientessense.Com

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The frankincense trade peaked at the time of the Roman Empire, in the first century BC. The Emperor Nero burned it by the ton at religious ceremonies and frankincense was also found in Tutankhamun's tomb. This frankincense trade lasted for some fifteen hundred years and declined partly through the drop in demand for religious use and the fall of the Roman Empire and partly because of the ridiculous taxes levied along the strictly controlled trade route. There is something mystical about this non-descript tree to suggest that it is the source of a substance which, for at least five millennia, was one of the most prized substances in the civilized world, valued as highly as gold and the gift of kings. Frankincense was very far from being just a lovely fragrance; its extraordinary symbolic value confined to its healing powers, which ranged from treatment of psychological conditions such as depression and claustrophobia to physical ones such as eczema and abscesses. A large quantity of frankincense is grown in what is now the Dhofar region of Oman centered around the town of Salalah as mentioned above. The Roman historian Pliny described it as "brilliant white and gathered at dawn in drops or tears in the shape of pearls". These 'pearls', these small pieces of resin were so prized that Alexander the Great planned to invade Arabia in order to control the trade in incense at its point of origin, a plan thwarted only by his death...

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