Camels

[Joolz]

Hi
I am a new bod writing in although I have been reading all your comments for a while now.
One question I do not know the answer to: did ATG's army made use of camels when crossing the Gedrosia desert or not? Michael Wood in his documentary stated they did not know camels which seems strange to me as they had already been to Bactria.
Any info? Thanks

[marcus]

Hi Joolz,Welcome to the forum!I have to confess that, certainly off the top of my head, I don't know the answer to your question. However, I can confirm that Michael Wood is wrong if he says that Alexander and his army 'did not know camels', as at least some of them had already used them in Libya, when travelling to the oracle of Ammon. (OK, so they were actually dromedaries, not camels - if there is a specific difference - but I doubt there were different names for them in Al's time.) Incidentally, the first literary reference to camels in 'Egypt' (ie. what is modern Egypt, 'cos it was in Libya in Alexander's time), is in the Alexander sources. I don't know what the history of the Bactrian camel is, although I've always assumed that they existed in that region at that time. However, if they weren't used at all in the area of the southern Indus and in Gedrosia, then of course it is feasible that they *weren't* used during the desert journey.All the bestMarcus

[Joolz]

Thanks Marcus, super speedy reply. Cheers

[jona]

Camels and dromedaries: yes, the Macedonians knew -or could know- that they were different animals. Aristotle clearly makes the distinction in the Historia Animalium 499a. But many people continued to confuse the two animals, not in the least because the Semitic word for dromedary is gamal (cf. Gaugamela, "dromedaries' hump").Interesting to know & forget: in the proverb that Christians know as "It is easier for a *kamelos* to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of the Lord", *kamelos* can only refer to a dromedary. In the Jewish version, the animal is... an elephant!Jona

[alejandro]

Hi JonaI donGÇÖt know how much truth there is in this version, but I heard that, actually, the proverb as known nowadays comes from a bad translation of the original Aramaic (not sure if it was in Aramaic, but I assume it was. Jesus is supposed to have spoken Aramaic). The word GÇ£kamelosGÇ¥ means GÇ£strong and thick rope used to tie boats to the docksGÇ¥ in Aramaic.As I said, I donGÇÖt know how much truth is in this version, but certainly makes more sense talking about how difficult would be for this thick rope to go trough the eye of the needle, rather than a completely unrelated camel/elephant.Kind regardsAlejandro

[THE LIGHT 7000]

Hi......In fact you are right. In Makedonian KAMEN means ROCK, so KAMEL'S/Kamen's are like rocks in desert, etc...The Light 7000