Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh -- Part 2
Indian oud at AED200,000 per kg As for gold, there are two things in this region that are worth more than gold: oud and saffron. Oud is such an important part of the Arabs’ daily lives that it deserves an in-depth introduction. First of all, don't get mixed up with the Arabian traditional string instrument which looks like a pearl-shaped guitar with a round back, that is also called oud (عود); exactly the same word with the same pronunciation. However, when it comes to the incense, oud or agarwood is everywhere in town; you can smell oud burning in every corner of shopping malls. A musician playing the oud According to old Muslim scriptures, it is called oud-al-hindi, hinting that it originated from India. It might also explain why the most expensive oud comes from India. In one shop, we saw some Cambodian oud priced at AED 25,000 per kg while the best Indian oud in the shop cost AED 200,000 per kg, eight times the price of i...
