As Christmas nears, let us have another look at an unsung hero of the Christmas story, and this week we have the camel. He was a late comer, joining the ox and donkey only when the three wise men turned up. However, once more there are no camels specifically mentioned in the bible at that point, and even the men are only named in the eighth century, with a rather sketchy back story about them being found in a long lost and newly discovered Greek manuscript. Other sources speak of them coming on horseback, or even on elephants, reflecting another common theory, that each wise man came from a different area - Melchior from Persia, Caspar from Afghanistan, and Balthazar from Ethiopia in Africa, and it was he who rode the elephant.
The first mention of camels in any historical account is in the Old Testament, in Genesis, where Pharaoh gives them to Abraham. If he did that, then they would have been the first camels in Egypt.
So on to our three clue cards this week, which were :
Clue one :
Saturday 20th of December -
Topps Merlin [trade/commercial : cards : UK] "Heritage 95 Card Collection" (2021)
To start our week we have Paul Pogba, who is an investor, shareholder, and ambassador for a Saudi Arabian camel racing team. The team. Al Haboob, is the world`s first professional camel racing team, and apparently Mr. Pogba is a huge fan of the sport
Clue two :
Sunday 21st of December
UNITED Tobacco Companies (South) Ltd (tobacco : O/S - Cape Town, South Africa] "Picturesque People of the Empire (1929)
Though this Bedouin is shown with a horse, they are renowned as being camel people, breeding and refining them for strength and speed.
Indeed the word camel comes from Arabic, and much of their literature and poetry, right from the eleventh century B.C., Their Arabic name is Ata Allah, which translates to "Gift of God". They provided transportation, milk, and were used as currency. They revered the camel so highly that they would only eat them when they were unable to find any other food.
and lastly, came
Clue three :
Monday 22nd of December
HOADLEY`S Chocolates [trade : confectionery : O/S - Barrackville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia] "Wild West Series" (1938)
Here we have an Australian card showing goldfields, albeit in America - but in 1892 camels were first brought to the Western Australian goldfields from South Australia, with others following direct from India.
The camel had made its name on the Burke and Wills' expedition in 1860, where it could sustain itself with almost no water for days, and eat all forms of local plant life.
On which note, if anyone else would like to send us any information from their collection which relates in any way to our theme of the week, please do.The e-mail is webmaster@card-world.co.uk - and this is the same for any corrections, or for general cartophilic correspondence and chat.