Dhofar, the Land of Frankincense, has remained, since earliest times, the principle source of production and exportation of the finest and most famous varieties of incense. This land had numerous names: the land of Aad, the country of Punt, the country of Al Shahr.

It is assumed, that Ahqaf (or sandy land) mentioned in the Holy Qur'an represented the Dhofar region. The area was well known to the Pharaohs, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Hindus and Chinese. All of them called it by different names and established trade relations, describing its coast as the "frankincense coast". The Greek referred to the coast as "Omana".