By the early 1st millennium BCE, the Sabaeans (Sabaʾ/Sheba) emerged as a major kingdom in southwestern Arabia (today’s Yemen). Their wealth depended in part on trading valuable aromatics—especially frankincense and myrrh—used in rituals, medicine, and luxury perfume. This set the political and economic foundation for later maritime trade across the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
Large-scale water management at Maʾrib helped stabilize agriculture in an arid region, supporting population growth and state power. Surplus food and organized labor made it easier for South Arabian rulers and merchants to finance caravans, ports, and protection for trade. This infrastructure underpinned the aromatics economy that connected Arabia to markets far beyond the peninsula.
Frankincense resin was harvested in southern Arabia (including the Dhofar region) and moved through a combined network of inland routes and coastal outlets. Control over these routes mattered because incense was lightweight, high-value cargo that could fund states and armies. Over time, maritime options across the Arabian Sea became increasingly important for reaching Indian Ocean partners.
At Khor Rori in today’s Oman, the fortified port of Sumhuram was founded to help manage and export Dhofar frankincense by sea. As a protected natural harbor, it could receive ships using seasonal monsoon winds and load incense for long-distance voyages. This helped shift parts of the aromatics trade toward Indian Ocean maritime routes.
The Himyarites rose from a tribal and regional base to become the leading power across much of southern Arabia. Their kingdom is commonly dated to roughly 115 BCE–525 CE, and it inherited key elements of earlier Sabaean culture and language. Himyar’s rulers competed to control trade revenue, including the profitable aromatics moving to Red Sea and Indian Ocean markets.
As more trade moved by sea between Egypt and India, inland caravan-centered powers faced stronger competition. According to Britannica, the rise of a sea route helped reduce the importance of older overland systems and contributed to major political change in South Arabia. These pressures set the stage for Himyar’s rise and for ports to play a larger role in incense exchange.
The port known in antiquity as Qanāʾ (often linked with Cana/Qanīʾ, near today’s Biʾr ʿAlī) served as a major maritime outlet for South Arabia. Classical sources describe it as a hub where goods from India and the western Indian Ocean could be exchanged and redistributed inland. In practice, such ports helped integrate frankincense and myrrh into wider Indian Ocean trade flows.
In the mid-1st century CE, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea described navigation and trade around the Red Sea and Indian Ocean world. It records South Arabian ports and discusses commodities, including incense and types of myrrh, showing that aromatics were part of a broader system linking Arabia, Egypt, East Africa, and India. The text is important because it provides a near-contemporary snapshot of how merchants organized this trade.
Indian Ocean trade relied on predictable seasonal monsoon winds, allowing ships to plan outbound and return trips. This made it practical to move high-value cargo like frankincense and myrrh alongside Indian textiles, spices, and other goods. Ports on both the Arabian and Indian coasts grew more interdependent as voyages became more routine and commercially organized.
In the early 4th century CE, Himyar’s capital was moved from Ẓafār to Sanaʿa, reflecting changing political priorities and internal administration. Such changes often accompanied efforts to manage regional alliances, taxation, and trade revenue more effectively. The move also coincided with growing religious and cultural shifts that would later affect foreign relations and stability.
UNESCO and archaeological summaries describe a long life for Khor Rori (Sumhuram), followed by disintegration and abandonment by the 5th century CE. Environmental change—such as silting and sandbar formation that reduced harbor access—likely made the port less reliable for shipping. As maritime infrastructure declined, trade routes and coastal centers shifted, reshaping how incense reached overseas buyers.
Britannica notes that a massacre of Christians at Najrān under the Himyarite king Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar (Dhū Nuwās) in 520 CE became a major turning point. The event prompted intervention by the Christian Kingdom of Aksum across the Red Sea. This crisis tied South Arabian politics more directly to wider Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean power struggles.
Aksumite forces invaded and, by 525 CE, defeated Himyar and installed a new political order in southern Arabia. This altered who collected customs and controlled key corridors for Red Sea and Arabian Sea commerce, including the movement of incense. The conquest marks a clear end to Himyar’s long dominance and helps explain why older Sabaean–Himyarite incense systems did not continue unchanged.
After Himyar’s collapse and Aksumite rule, outside powers continued to compete for southern Arabia. Britannica notes that an appeal for help led to Persian (Sasanian) control beginning in 575 CE. By this point, the earlier Sabaean and Himyarite framework that had long organized frankincense and myrrh trade across the Arabian Sea had been replaced by new rulers and shifting trade patterns.
Sabaean and Himyarite frankincense and myrrh trade across the Arabian Sea (c. 900 BCE–600 CE)