Dromedary - History

History

The Book of Genesis implies the dromedary camel was used by nomadic tribes in the second millennium BCE, but the book was composed at a later time, so the information can not be corroborated. Scholars have dated the spread of dromedaries to the first centuries AD, and before the arrival of the Romans. The Persian invasion of Egypt under Cambyses in 525 BC introduced domesticated camels to the area. The Persian camels, however, were not particularly suited to trading or travel over the Sahara; rare journeys made across the desert were made on chariots pulled by horses.

The dromedaries became common after the Islamic conquest of North Africa. While the invasion was accomplished largely on horseback, the new links to the Middle East allowed camels to be imported en masse. These camels were well-suited to long desert journeys and could carry a great deal of cargo, allowing substantial trade over the Sahara for the first time. In Libya, they were used for transportation within the country and their milk and meat constituted the local diet.

In the mid-seventh century, the dromedary was first used in warfare when the Achaemenid king, Cyrus the Great, made use of these animals while fighting with king Croesus of Lydia in 547 BC. Since then the Persians, Seleucideans, Alexander the Great, Parthians and Sasanians also used dromedaries in warfare. They were also used for the same means in the eastern provinces of Egypt, Arabia, Judaea, Syria, Cappadocia, and Mesopotamia.

In 1840, six camels were shipped from Tenerife to Adelaide, but only one survived the trip, arriving on October 12, 1840. Numerous camels were imported into Australia between 1840 and 1907 to open up the arid areas of central and western parts of the country, and were used mainly for riding and transportation. The explorer John Horrocks was among the first to use camels to explore the arid interior of Australia during the 1840s. About a million feral camels are estimated to live in Australia.