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Eid Al-Fitr Fuels Demand for Oud and Incense in Saudi Arabia

The fragrant scents play a significant cultural role in the Kingdom, deeply intertwined with Eid traditions and customs. (SPA)
The fragrant scents play a significant cultural role in the Kingdom, deeply intertwined with Eid traditions and customs. (SPA)
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Eid Al-Fitr Fuels Demand for Oud and Incense in Saudi Arabia

The fragrant scents play a significant cultural role in the Kingdom, deeply intertwined with Eid traditions and customs. (SPA)
The fragrant scents play a significant cultural role in the Kingdom, deeply intertwined with Eid traditions and customs. (SPA)

A surge in demand for oud (agarwood) and incense is being witnessed in Riyadh markets in the lead-up to Eid al-Fitr. The fragrant scents play a significant cultural role in the Kingdom, deeply intertwined with Eid traditions and customs, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Saturday.

Official data from the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority revealed significant import volumes of oud. Between the second half of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the Kingdom imported 1,145,498 kilograms of oud and 1,513 kgs of oud oil.

SPA monitored commercial activity in recent days, observing a rapid rise in sales of incense, oud oil, and various perfumes as Eid approaches.

Prices vary considerably depending on the type and quality of the oud. Natural, rare oud can fetch astronomical prices, with one kilogram reaching as high as SAR400,000.

Improved oud, which has undergone treatments to enhance its aroma and appearance, such as adding essential oils, resins, or dyes to alter the natural qualities of the wood, falls within a broader range of SAR100 to SAR6,000 per ounce, depending on factors such as the quality and quantity of oil used.

These factors, in turn, are often linked to the source country in Southeast Asia. The most prominent exporters include India, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Highly valued oud is known for its longevity, with the scent strengthening as the wood matures.

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UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
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UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body said Friday.
UNESCO said the site, which dates back to the fourth century, had been put on the endangered list at the demand of Palestinian authorities and cited the "imminent threats" it faced.
"It's the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant "provisional enhanced protection" -- the highest level of immunity established by the 1954 Hague Convention -- to the site.
UNESCO had then said it was "already concerned about the state of conservation of sites, before October 7, due to the lack of adequate policies to protect heritage and culture" in Gaza.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.