Yemen's Alabaster Road: Incense, Caravans, and the Lost City of Shabwa

Long before coffee or qat, Yemen's greatest export was frankincense and myrrh — resins so precious they were called 'the sweat of the gods.' In this episode, Lucas and Luna follow the ancient incense route from the Hadhramaut to the Mediterranean, stopping at the lost city of Shabwa, capital of the kingdom of Hadhramaut. They explore how the trade shaped Yemen's kingdoms, the engineering of the camel caravans, and the role of the 'Incense Road' in connecting Arabia to the Roman world. Lucas explains the monopoly of the Minaeans and Sabaeans, the mysterious 'Frankincense Coast' (Dhofar), and the environmental toll that led to the route's decline. He also unpacks the excavation of Shabwa by French archaeologists and what it reveals about a civilization that thrived on scent. Along the way, Luna asks about the 'incense trees' themselves, the dangers of the journey, and why this trade collapsed when it did. The episode ends with a meditation on what Yemen's ancient economy can teach us about its current crisis.

#Yemen #IncenseRoad #Frankincense #Myrrh #Shabwa #Hadhramaut #AncientTrade #CaravanRoutes #Minaean #Sabaean #Dhofar #RomanTrade #Archaeology #AncientHistory #MiddleEastHistory #FexingoHistory #TradeRoutes #History

Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo