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Trade between Arabia and the Empires of Rome and Asia

• 
  Incense burner, mid-1st millennium B.C.
  Southern Arabia
  Bronze; H. 10 7/8 in. (27.6 cm)
  Gift of Dr. Sidney A. Charlat, in memory of his parents, Newman and Adele Charlat, 1949 (49.71.2)
  
• 
  Standing male figure, late 1st millennium B.C.
  Southwestern Arabia
  Alabaster (gypsum); H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)
  Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1982 (1982.317.3)
  
• 
  Votive plaque inscribed with Sabaean dedication, late 1st millennium B.C.
  Southwestern Arabia
  Bronze; H. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm)
  Pfeiffer Fund, 1993 (1993.169)
  
• 
  Figure of a bull, ca. mid- to late 1st millennium B.C.
  Southwestern Arabia
  Bronze; H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1947 (47.100.85)
  
• 
  Head of a man, 3rd–4th century
  Southwestern Arabia
  Alabaster (gypsum); H. 9 7/16 in. (24 cm)
  Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1982 (1982.317.1)
  

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Frankincense and myrrh, highly prized in antiquity as fragrances, could only be obtained from trees growing in southern Arabia, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Arab merchants brought these goods to Roman markets by means of camel caravans along the Incense Route. The Incense Route originally commenced at Shabwah in Hadhramaut, the easternmost kingdom of South Arabia, and ended at Gaza, a port north of the Sinai Peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea. Both the camel caravan routes across the deserts of Arabia and the ports along the coast of South Arabia were part of a vast trade network covering most of the world then known to Greco-Roman geographers as Arabia Felix. South Arabian merchants utilized the Incense Route to transport not only frankincense and myrrh but also spices, gold, ivory, pearls, precious stones, and textiles—all of which arrived at the local ports from Africa, India, and the Far East. The geographer Strabo compared the immense traffic along the desert routes to that of an army. The Incense Route ran along the western edge of Arabia’s central desert about 100 miles inland from the Red Sea coast; Pliny the Elder stated that the journey consisted of sixty-five stages divided by halts for the camels. Both the Nabataeans and the South Arabians grew tremendously wealthy through the transport of goods destined for lands beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

South Arabian merchants utilized the Incense Route to transport not only frankincense and myrrh but also spices, gold, ivory, pearls, precious stones, and textiles—all of which arrived at the local ports from Africa, India, and the Far East.

Related

Timelines (7)

• Arabian Peninsula, 1–500 a.d.
• Arabian Peninsula, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• China, 1–500 a.d.
• China, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Italian Peninsula, 1–500 a.d.
• Italian Peninsula, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Mesopotamia, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (2)

• Ancient Trade Routes between Europe and Asia
• Nabataean Kingdom and Petra

Other Thematic Essays (12)

• Amulets and Talismans from the Islamic World
• Art and Love in the Italian Renaissance
• Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World
• Eastern Religions in the Roman World
• Ethiopia's Enduring Cultural Heritage
• Life of Jesus of Nazareth
• List of Rulers of Mesopotamia
• List of Rulers of the Roman Empire
• The Birth and Infancy of Christ in Italian Painting
• The Year One
• Trade and Commercial Activity in the Byzantine and early Islamic Middle East
• Trade Routes between Europe and Asia during Antiquity

Maps (1)

• World, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

Index Terms (10)

Geography/Place

• Eastern Africa
• Egypt
• Rome (Ancient)
• Arabian Peninsula

Material and Technique

• Sculpture in the Round from West Asia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Camel
• Archaeology from Europe
• Archaeology from West Asia
• Trade (1–500 a.d.)
• Trade (1000 b.c.–1 a.d.)

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Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. "Trade between Arabia and the Empires of Rome and Asia". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ince/hd_ince.htm (October 2000) Further Reading Milleker, Elizabeth J., ed. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. Exhibition catalogue.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Simpson, St. John, ed. Queen of Sheba: Treasures from Ancient Yemen. London: British Museum Press, 2002. Taylor, Jane Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Harper, Prudence Oliver, Andrew Oliver, Jr., Nora Scott and Christine Lilyquist "Origin and Influence Cultural Contacts: Egypt, and the Ancient Near East, and the Classical World." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 29, no. 7 (March, 1971). JSTOR | PDF