Photo: CNRS / MADAJ / R. Schwerdtner
Mysterious 2,000-year-old camel carvings found in Saudi Arabian desert.
The lure of space travel notwithstanding, there’s still a lot to discover and puzzle out on Planet Earth. In this story, archaeological adventurers ask why life-size camels might have been carved 2,000 years ago in a Saudi Arabian desert.
Ruth Schuster explores the mystery at Haaretz. “About a dozen life-sized stone sculptures and reliefs of camels have been found in a markedly inhospitable site in northern Saudi Arabia. While camelid art has existed in the region going back millennia, nothing quite like this has been found before.
“The somewhat eroded statues are tentatively dated at around 2,000 years old, give or take a century or more, according to a collaboration between the French National Center for Scientific Research and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage reported [in] the Cambridge journal of Antiquity. …
“No associated artifacts were found at Camel Site that could give clues about origin – no hammers, picks or anything. …
“For all the art, Camel Site seems not to have been inhabited. As the authors write, it ‘does not seem propitious for permanent human settlement.’ However, they point out, the fact that ‘this isolated and seemingly uninhabitable site attracted highly skilled rock-carvers is striking testimony to its importance for surrounding populations.’
“For instance, it might have been a place of veneration going back generations. … Or the site could have been a boundary marker. Or a rest stop for caravans. …
“The camels were carved in proportion. Muscles and heads, particularly the muzzles and eyes, and the thickness of the legs were individual. These were lovingly depicted camels.”
More about the work to uncover the story of the carved camels may be found here. I was surprised to learn camels actually emerged first in North America.
By the way, I once rode a camel briefly. I was five months pregnant with John. I think I pretty much just got on and then got off.
I like that the scientists/ historians/ experts who have studied these sculptures have decided that “these were lovingly depicted camels.”
Now that you mention it, that’s pretty funny.
These ancient mysteries fascinate me no end. Part of me would like to know the answers and part of me just likes wondering . . .
I appreciate that you are so alert to the contradictions we all have in us.
And I appreciate that you cast it in that light, rather than that I’m just wishy washy!