The collective name (The Frankincense Trail) of these sites was only given to them at the suggestion of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) at the time of inscription in 2000 – their original nomination merely listed their individual names. Indeed no real “trail” exists – this WHS consists of 4 disparate sites in and around the southern Omani town of Salalah connected over the centuries by the trade in Frankincense.
(PS UNESCO must have been reading this -at Durban in 2005 they changed the rather misleading previuos title of the site!!)
Frankincense is one of those things which everyone will have heard of (The “Gifts of the 3 Kings” etc) but few will have seen, let alone seen the trees from which it is obtained actually growing and being harvested. The tree (Boswellia) grows in S Arabia and the Horn of Africa. The trade lasted for thousands of years and the substance had great value (more than gold at times). The word oozes mystery and historical connections - from that point of view the sites have considerable potential interest. The reality is somewhat less however and visitors will have to use a lot of imagination to conjure up the past!
3 of the sites are ruined cities :- The first, Shisr, (originally Ubar) lies in the desert where Frankincense was transported north by camel train and the other 2, Khor Rori (originally Sumhuram) and Al-Balid (originally Zafar) were trading ports on the coast. The history of the cities spans a period from Bronze Age to the 12th century Islamic States but generally their respective cultural “peaks” were in the sequence listed. The final site is the “Wadi Dawkah Frankincense Park” an area of desert where many of the trees fuelling the trade grew.
Of the remaining sites, Al-Balid is the easiest to see. It lies next to the Crowne Plaza resort hotel in the eastern suburbs of Salalah! A visitor centre is being built and may yet provide improved “interpretation” of the Frankincense Trail – at the moment the only place to obtain this (very limited) is in the Salalah Museum. The accompanying photo provides an indication of the remains
Khor Rori is perhaps the most dramatic and potentially evocative site. “Khors” are lagoons between the sea and the Dhofar mountains where wadis have broken through the coastal mountains. They provide fine bird watching. The remains Khor Rori stand on a hill high above the lagoon and consist mainly of the cut stones of a single fort-like building. However, with imagination one can see the boats coming and going through the gap in the cliffs to the open sea beyond carrying the frankincense to the waiting world! Or perhaps you can’t!
The “Wadi Dawkah Frankincense Park” lies approximately half way between Thumrayt, the last desert oasis going south before reaching the Dhofar mountains, and Salalah. If you reach the police checkpoint just before the escarpment summit you have gone too far! All you will notice will be the metal signs used in Oman to signify an archaeological ruin (they contain the site name in English) and fences on both sides of the road. The fences are breached by openings and, with a 4x4 you could enter the wadi on the west to look for Frankincense trees. We did not and the easiest place in our experience to see Frankincense trees growing is much closer to Salalah. Go west from the Hilton Hotel on the west side of the city and pass 2 roundabouts. After about 2 kms you will see a red “Omani Army” sign and a dirt road going right. This leads to a firing range (don’t worry it is fenced off!) and after about 2 more kms to a wadi containing around 20 trees. You will see the resin oozing from cuts and smell the scent.
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