<P> According to Robert Allen Denemark (2000): </P> <P> "The spread of urban trading networks, and their extension along the Persian Gulf and eastern Mediterranean, created a complex molecular structure of regional foci so that as well as the zonation of core and periphery (originally created around Mesopotamia) there was a series of interacting civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley; then also Syria, central Anatolia (Hittites) and the Aegean (Minoans and Mycenaeans). Beyond this was a margin which included not only temperate areas such as Europe, but the dry steppe corridor of central Asia . This was truly a world system, even though it occupied only a restricted portion of the western Old World . Whilst each civilization emphasized its ideological autonomy, all were identifiably part of a common world of interacting components ." </P> <P> These routes--spreading religion, trade and technology--have historically been vital to the growth of urban civilization . The extent of development of cities, and the level of their integration into a larger world system, has often been attributed to their position in various active transport networks . </P> <P> The Incense Route served as a channel for trading of Indian, Arabian and East Asian goods . The incense trade flourished from South Arabia to the Mediterranean between roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE . This trade was crucial to the economy of Yemen and the frankincense and myrrh trees were seen as a source of wealth by the its rulers . </P>

Who controlled the trade of goods from east to west