Southeast Arabia (909 BCE – 819 CE) Antiquity — Incense Kingdom Seeds and Gulf/Red Sea Integration
Geographic and Environmental Context
Southeast Arabia covers the
southern and eastern margins of the Arabian Peninsula:
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Eastern Yemen (Hadhramaut, eastern Aden interior, al-Mahra).
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Southern Oman (Dhofar Highlands with the khareef monsoon, al-Wusta gravel plains, Sharqiyah Desert fringes).
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The Empty Quarter (Rubʿ al-Khālī) margins in adjoining Saudi territory.
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The offshore island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea.
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Anchors: Wādī Ḥaḍramawt–Shibam–Tarim, Dhofar escarpments (Ẓafār/Al-Balīd, Mirbat), al-Mahra dunes, al-Wusta plains, Sharqiyah sands, Socotra’s Hagghier Mountains and dragon’s-blood groves.
Climate & Environmental Shifts
Societies & Political Developments
Economy & Trade
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Frankincense, myrrh, dragon’s-blood resin; goats, camels, dried fish.
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Coastal entrepôts tied to Gulf and Red Sea; incense moved to Mediterranean and India.
Technology & Material Culture
Belief & Symbolism
Environmental Adaptation & Resilience
Transition
By 819 CE, Southeast Arabia was a specialized incense frontier, integrated into global Red Sea–Indian Ocean circuits — ready for its role in the Islamic and medieval ages to come.