Hojari Frankincense (Boswellia Sacra) Oman, 25g

The highest grade of frankincense from the Dhofar mountains of Oman - pale tears, sometimes warming to soft amber after harvest, that open bright and citric on charcoal before deepening into resinous warmth. The resin the world's oldest trade routes were built around.

The Material

Hand-tapped Boswellia sacra from the Dhofar mountains of Oman, sorted by harvesters into the Hojari grade - the highest tier of frankincense in the traditional Omani classification. Royal Hojari is the cleanest of the three Hojari grades: pale, sometimes warming to soft amber, three to five percent of any harvest.

The details

• BOTANICAL: Boswellia sacra

• ORIGIN: Dhofar, Oman

• SOURCE NAME: al-Hojari (الحوجري)

• GRADE: Royal · pale to warm-pale tears

• NET WEIGHT: 25g

• THERMAL BEHAVIOUR: softens, partially melts, light residue

• STORAGE: cool, dry, away from light

Worth knowing

In the first century, frankincense from Dhofar was worth more than gold by weight. Pliny the Elder recorded that the trade made Arabia the wealthiest land on earth, and the route from Khor Rori to Petra was guarded by the Nabataean kingdom for six hundred years.

This Product

Royal Hojari is the resin the ancient world paid more for than gold. Two thousand years on, the trees still grow only in Dhofar, the harvest is still done by hand, and the tears still open citric and bright on charcoal within minutes. What you get in the tin is the highest grade of Boswellia sacra - the species that gave its name to the entire frankincense trade. The compounds responsible - α-pinene, limonene, incensole acetate - reach the olfactory bulb, which connects directly to the limbic system. The air in the room changes within minutes; the felt quality of the space shifts before the conscious mind names it. Reached for at thresholds, in gatherings, and in rooms held in quiet. One material that holds the same place in Omani households today that it held three thousand years ago.