The Mystery of the Bible's Phantom Camels
Camels Had No Business in Genesis
Will camel discovery break the Bible's back?
Study of camel bones suggests Bible may be wrong
Camel archaeology contradicts the Bible

One evangelical Anglican scholar and frequent contributor to VOL Dr. Alice Linsley disagrees and says the claims are overblown. Here is her take.

Some maintain that the mention of camels in Genesis 24 is an anachronism because camels were not domesticated at the time Abraham lived. However, camels are listed as domesticated animals in a Sumerian Lexical Text from Ugarit (1950-1600 B.C.) and reference to camel's milk appears in another Old Babylonian text. Pierre Montet found a 2nd millennium stone container in the form of a camel in Egypt. Parrot uncovered a picture of the hindquarters of a camel on a jar at Mari (2000 B.C.) and found camel bones dating from about 2400 B.C.

Paleontologists have evidence that members of the camel family thrived in North America about 40 million years ago. The American camel, which went extinct at the end of the last ice age, once roamed alongside woolly mammoths, dire wolves, sabertooths, and giant ground sloths.

During the Pliocene warm period, 3 million years ago, camels ranged more widely. Mummified camel bones have been found as far north as Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Tundra.

In August 2008, a very old camel jawbone was unearthed in Syria. According to Heba al-Sakhel, head of the Syrian National Museum, the fossil is one million years old.

Camels developed into distinct species before the Ice Age and moved westward across Alaska into western Asia. The two kinds of camels known today likely emerged in Asia. Smaller members of the camel family include alpacas, guanacos, llamas, and vicunas.

Today wild camels still roam parts of Mongolia. Though wild herds no longer are found in Arabia, there would have been wild Arabian camels in Abraham's day. Camels are milked at a camel dairy in Dubai and the vitamin C rich milk is being exported to Europe.

Beja of Sudan with their camels

The total worldwide population of camels is thought to be about 18 million. The camel population is divided into 2 categories: approximately 16 million Dromedary (1 hump) and 2 million Bactrian (2 humps). Hybrids of the two species were once found in Asia. These crossbred camels had one extra-long hump and were larger and stronger than either of their parents.

Camels are the perfect pack animals for treks through deserts and arid regions since they can go up to 12 days without any water. They pick their own leader and always follow the "alpha camel" and they always file in the same order.

A Dromedary camel's fur is short and protects its body from the heat. The longer fur of the Bactrian camel may grow to about 10 inches (approx. 25 centimetres) on the animal's head, neck, and humps. All camels lose their fur in spring and grow a new coat. Without its fur the camel looks slender but a thick coat of new fur grows by autumn.

We do not know if Abraham's camels were Dromedary or Bactrian, but it is likely that they were Dromedary camels as this is the breed of the Arabian Peninsula. It is interesting that Abraham sent ten camels. The number 1 was a reference to the Creator among Abraham's Horite people. The O was a solar symbol, as was the Canaanite Y (vav). The number 10 represents a new rising of the sun and the ascendancy of a "son" of God, in this case Yitzak (Isaac). Yitzak's taking of his second wife marked his rising to power. He would rule in Abraham's place over a territory that extended from Hebron to Beersheba. This explains Abraham's urgency that Isaac should have a second wife and that she should be brought back to Canaan (Gen. 24:1-9).

The Kushan likely used Bactrian camels. Domesticated Bactrian camels had spread into southern Russia by 1700 B.C. and were used in Western Siberia by the 10th century B.C.

Camel teams consisting of approximately 70 camels are able to travel between 20 to 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) a day in desert environments. They move at a speed of about 3 miles (5 kilometres) per hour. Teams carry up to 20 tons on their backs. A large bull camel can carry up to 1323 pounds (600 kg) and smaller camels up to 882 pounds (400 kg).

Given this information, we can estimate the weight of the "bounty" carried by Abraham's camels to Padan-Aram. If all ten camels were mature bulls carrying maximun loads, the total weight of the goods delivered would have been about 13,230 pounds or 6000 kilograms.

Related reading: Archaeology and the Patriarchs; The Beja Metalworkers; Trees in Genesis, Noah's Birds; Arctic Camels Clue to Climate Change?; The Kushite-Kushan Connection; The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People; The Pattern of Two Wives; The Latest Challenge to the Bible: Abraham's Camel's an Anachronism

Alice Linsley is a Christian Apologist. She has been pioneering the field of Biblical Anthropology for over 30 years. She teaches Philosophy and Ethics and is a member of the American Scientific Affiliation. She is a contributor to Virtueonline