\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs24 Let us picture a caravan on the move. It set out from one of the ports of \b \cf1 \ATXht43 Oman\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , where it had
picked up the merchandise brought by sea from India, China, and East Africa. It then traveled across the deserts to the great cities of the Eastern and Western Roman empires. Thousands of camels were accompanied by a whole army of men, including merchant
s, servants, camel drivers, craftsmen, and soldiers to protect the goods and provisions from \b \cf2 \ATXht11801 raids\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 by predatory \b \cf2 \ATXht10202 Bedouins\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 . They carried all sorts of luxuries, such as herbs, spices,
incense, exotic animals, and precious stones, destined for the markets of Athens, Rome, Damascus, and Baghdad.\par
For centuries the cities at which the caravans stopped thrived on the heavy taxes they imposed on travelers and goods.\par
The long marc
h of the Spice Road from Aden to \b \cf1 \ATXht53 Mecca\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 slackened its pace at the beginning of our own era, with the opening of new trade routes that were considered safer and with the change in customs û a fall in demand for luxury good
s from the crumbling empires and abolition of the use of perfumes at religious functions.\par
Finally, the growth in maritime trade carried by large vessels, capable of sailing long distances, forced the caravans to restrict their activity almost entire
