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Those Saudi Arabian Camel Carvings
Camels play an important role in the culture of desert people in the Middle East (as do horses). Like the horse, the dromedary camel, Camelus dromedarius is an entirely domesticated species. There are no wild dromedaries, although there are feral ones in a few places.
(There are two other species of camel, both of which are Bactrian camels. The difference is in the number of humps).
Camels are valued work beasts, able to handle the extreme conditions and carry a good load.
Honoring Camels
Every year in Saudi Arabia, the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival attracts several hundred thousand spectators…and more than 30,000 camels.
It’s basically a giant camel show. There are camel races, there are classes to demonstrate how well trained your camel is. I wasn’t really able to find out what kind of classes there are for “well behaved” camels, but I’m imagining not so different from a horse show.
And then there’s the camel beauty pageant, the true centerpiece of the festival, where camel herders bring their loveliest female camels. These camels are pampered, primped, fed literal milk and honey. They have patterns brushed into their fur (we do that to horses too) to make their humps look more rounded. Camel herders have been disqualified for using botox on…