1 janv. 1800 av. J.-C. - La route de l'encens

Description:

The Incense Route developed to transport frankincense and myrrh,
which are only found in the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula
(modern Yemen and Oman). Frankincense and myrrh are both derived from
tree sap that’s dried in the Sun; these nuggets of sap can then be
burned as incense or used as perfume, and were also popular in burial
rituals to aid embalming. The camel was domesticated
around 1000 BCE and this development allowed the Arabs to begin
transporting their valuable incense to the Mediterranean, an important
trade hub. Frankincense and myrrh became a significant commodity for the
Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians—it was said the Roman emperor Nero had a whole year’s harvest of frankincense burned at the funeral of his beloved mistress.
The trade flourished, and the overland route was, at its height, said
to have seen 3000 tons of incense traded along its length every year.
Roman historian Pliny the Elder
wrote that it took 62 days to complete the route, although it’s clear
that at times, the exact route shifted when greedy settlements pushed
their luck and demanded taxes that were too high from the caravans
coming through. By the first century CE, this ancient overland route was
largely redundant, as improved boat design made sea routes more
attractive.

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