Wednesday 5 February 2014
Camels
The NZ Herald published a story (reprinted from the Daily Mail) about lack of evidence for camel domestication in the pre-1000BC Levant casting doubt on Biblical references to Abraham and his family using camels before that time. The report seems a bit off to me for a couple of reasons... Contrary to the implication of the article, this isn't by any means a new issue. People have been arguing about this precise question for over fifty years, albeit with a little less archeological data. (See this for example.) Secondly, the obvious rejoinder is that Abraham wasn't actually from the Levant; according to the Biblical narrative he was from Mesopotamia --- where camels appear to have been domesticated much earlier --- and travelled to what is now Israel, bringing his (considerable) household and possessions with him. It would have made complete sense for him to bring some camels with him for the journey, and for that small herd to be maintained and handed down for at least a few generations.
I admit it's a bit foolish to try to analyze data that's passed through the filters of press release and newspaper publication.
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