Patriarchal period (date disputed)·Patriarchs·Event
Camels in Genesis
Scripture: Genesis 12:16; Genesis 24:10
The claim
Abraham owns camels, and his servant takes ten camels to find a wife for Isaac.
What archaeology found
A 2013 study of bones from the copper mines of the Aravah Valley found that domesticated camels appear in the southern around the late 10th century BCE. Others point to earlier, scattered evidence of camels in the wider region, and argue a few wealthy herders could have owned them earlier.
Sources
- Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef, The Introduction of Domestic Camels to the Southern Levant: Evidence from the Aravah Valley, Tel Aviv 40 (2013)
Verdict history
- DebatedInitial verdict.