I listened as Radiyyah went through the different grades of frankincense in her stock. "Those big yellow lumps aren't so good," she said. "These are better. Look, they're like pearls. But," she opened a small box, "these are the real fusus" Her word "gems" was well chosen: Teardrops the size of fat ring-stones, some were silvery, others had opalescent hints of rose, green or topaz. "This is najdi," she explained, "from the najd [plateau], the high land behind Jabal Qara." She pointed to the range of mountains across the plain from Salalah.This article appeared on pages 16-23 of the May/June 2000 print edition of Saudi Aramco World and was written by: Tim Mackintosh-Smith.....more
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