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Originally Posted by fernando
In a different semantic, if i may ...
Franquincenso = incenso franco (frank, as for real, in the case), or Olíbano, from the Arab 'al ubán' (the milk), with reference to the milky sap that comes out of the olíbano when cut. In fact an aromatic resin largely used in the making of parfums and incense; obtained from African and Asian trees from the Boswellia family.
Olíbano was one of the three presents brought by the three Kings from the Orient to the birth of Jesus.
Actually the appearance of Christianity empoverished the market of olíbano by the IV century; the desertification made the routes of caravans that crossed the Rub' al-Khali become more risky and the increment of incursions by the Nomads from the Next Orient contributed for the end of its trade by the year 300.
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I lived in the Salalah region for 6 years and Mirbat is the key location for top quality L'ban or Frankincense. The locals collect it rather like rubber and make a small cut in the shrub collecting the white sap a day or two later. The Romans were big users and at the time it was worth its weight in gold... As you say the decline was in the first 400 years and parallel to the migration from the Mehrib dam in Yemen which essentially fell apart over the same broad period. The people of that region knew already the Frankincense route and followed that when they left . The shrub grows all over Oman however it is only cultivated in the south~ Dhofar region even today. The girls also use it crushed with orange juice as a herbal cure for stomach ache and sore throats...since it is full of tannin. We burn it every day here. It is an excellent defence against mosquitos and insects also....as well as a perfume.