The Land of Frankincense: Wadi Dawkah's Boswellia sacra trees and the ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed

Background

The Land of Frankincense was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000 under criteria (iii) and (iv). The serial property brings together the frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah, the caravan oasis of Shisr or Wubar, and the ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed. Frankincense is the resin of the Boswellia sacra tree, and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre calls it one of the most important luxury goods of the ancient world. Khor Rori is a fortified port about 40 km east of Salalah that was in use from the 4th century BC to the 5th century AD. Al-Baleed is a coastal port on the Indian Ocean that was in use from the 8th to the 16th century AD. Caravans carried the resin from the wadis through oases such as Shisr to these ports, from where it was shipped to Mesopotamia, India and China.