incense burners A SENSE ... OF WHO AND WHERE WE ARE

The Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah (DAI) Cultural Season 23 opened on Monday evening with a lecture presentation on the “Incense Burners in the Tareq Rajab Museum” by Dr Ziad Rajab, the director of the New English School and Tareq Rajab Museum board member.

On behalf of DAI Director General and Co-Founder Sheikha Hessa Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, Chairman of the Steering Committee at DAI Bader Al-Baijan welcomed all the guests to the DAI Yarmouk Cultural Centre as he introduced Dr Ziad Rajab to the audience.

Dr Rajab, in addition to being a human resource specialist, is involved in the arts, and has non-professional certifications in book binding, illumination, portraiture, oil painting and pottery and also an accomplished flautist.

He thanked DAI for inviting him to open the DAI Cultural Season 23 as he commenced with his presentation with the inextricable link of incense to the history of civilisations in the Middle East and in particular, the Arabian Peninsula.

Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, and in therapy, meditation and ceremony. It may also be used as a simple deodorant or insectifuge. A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous people of North America while in the Middle East particularly the Arabian Peninsula, Frankincense and Myrrh were extremely popular and widely used. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.

The Incense trade route or the Incense Road of Antiquity comprised a network of major ancient land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with Eastern and Southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant and Egypt through Northeastern Africa and Arabia to India and beyond. The Incense Route served as a channel for the trading of goods such as Arabian frankincense and myrrh; Indian spices, precious stones, pearls, ebony, silk and fine textiles and the Horn of African rare woods, feathers, animal skins, Somali frankincense, and gold.

The Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah Cultural Season 23 opened with a lecture presentation on the ‘Incense Burners in the Tareq Rajab Museum’ by Dr Ziad Rajab, the director of the New English School and Tareq Rajab Museum board member. Dr Ziad, in his presentation, showed the inextricable link of incense to thehistory of civilizations in the Mideast and in particular, the Arabian Peninsula.

Photos courtesy of Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah and the Tareq Rajab Museum An incense burner in Tareq Rajab Museum collection … an inextricable link to the history of civilisations.

An extremely rare Islamic incense burner from Afghanistan — late 10th early 11th C.

Eastern Iran, Ghazni 11th Century AD

Umayyad Syrian Bronze incense burner 7th or 8th Century AD