The earliest known civilizations in southern Arabia existed between one and two thousand B.C. Much of Arabia'a prehistory remains obscure despite the many ruins as there are few archaeologists working on them compared with Western sites. 

The incense trade was the second largest means of economy following agriculture for the Ancient kingdoms of South Arabia.  Certainly, any powerful city had to be located along a trade route.  The most important commodities in this trade were being frankincense and myrrh.  These scents were highly valued in Egyptian, Greek and Roman rituals, and thus brought great wealth to the ancient kingdoms. 

Saba was the greatest of the ancient kingdoms of South Arabia, with its capital located in Ma'rib, then known as Maryab.  It was mentioned in the old testament, when the Queen of Sheba went ot visit King Soloman in the 10th century B.C.  Among Saba's rivals along the trade route, Najran and Ma'in among them.  (See ruins of Ma'rib for more).

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