ABSTRACT
Arising when Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity were still in the process of firmly establishing themselves institutionally, Islam traces its origins to Arabia of the seventh century. Thus, muslims can see that the "prehistory" of Islam is a significant conceptual notion for both historians concerned with understanding the emergence of Islam and the Muslim community itself in the understanding of its relationship to its religio-cultural heritage. The pre-Islamic period is an era contrasted to the time and ethos of Islam, a contrast which is embodied in the term jahiliyya. South Arabia, the major source of incense for the world from antiquity, had based a great deal of its economy on the production of and trade in this material, which was used in Greco–Roman religious festivals and in medicinal preparations. The Arabian peninsula, although having had settled centers for several millennia, did not contain a power to be reckoned with in the world at the time.
