The Curious Frankincense Burners of Salalah, Oman

One evening, the first time I visited the enchanting little city of Salalah, Oman, Faisal was showing me around one of its quiet and calm souqs. Inside one of the shops in the souq, I could not help but notice dozens and dozens of oddly-shaped, brightly-colored objects, all stacked on top of each other on glass shelves.

What is this?! I asked, picking up one of the objects and rotating it in my hand.

A frankincense burner, Faisal answered nonchalantly.

As someone who lived in Salalah, these were no doubt a normal sight for Faisal. But I’d never seen anything like these very unusual terracotta frankincense burners before.

Frankincense, as you may or may not know, is one of the gifts that the three wise men gave to Jesus after He was born in Bethlehem. Following a star in the sky, they traveled west for a long distance until they reached Bethlehem. Oman is over 1,500 miles southeast of Bethlehem, and a lot of frankincense grows in the Dhofar region, which is where Salalah is located. For these reasons, some people believe the three wise men may have come from Salalah or elsewhere in the Dhofar Govenorate.

Frankincense is very popular in Oman. The local people harvest it from Boswellia sacra trees, found mostly in the Dhofar region. When you slice off some of the bark of one of these trees, thick and gooey frankincense will seep out.

Omani frankincense burners are made for burning this frankincense resin. The light gold resin is chopped into small pieces. It is then sold in fairly large bags that weigh probably about a pound. Unless you’re an Omani who makes use of it regularly, this is basically a lifetime supply of frankincense.

Omanis sometimes steep the frankincense resin in their tea. It doesn’t dissolve well, though. Many chew it for the anti-inflammatory health benefits. It is so thick and sticky, however, that it sticks to your teeth for many days afterwards. So it is best to burn it.

How do you burn frankincense in an Omani incense burner? The same as you burn other kinds of incense. Just put a small piece of charcoal in the burner, place a piece or two of resin on top of the charcoal and light it. The frankincense as it burns can become quite smokey, so be sure to do this in a well-ventilated space.

This is one of many photos I took of the curious frankincense burners in the Salalah souq. I chose this particular photo for this post because these are some of the prettier burners. While I found these in Salalah, you can find them elsewhere in Oman too. In case you want to rush right out and buy one, don’t stress. The shops in the Salalah souqs have an abundant supply of these. They also carry the packages of frankincense resin. So if you travel to Salalah, Oman, don’t miss the frankincense burners in the shops in the souqs. There is nothing else like them in the world.