Vertical News: Camel Bones, Abraham, and Archeology

article by Amanda Stiver

What does the recent dating of camel bones from the Aravah Valley in Israel tell us about the Biblical record?

Source: sxc.hu/petercaulf

A recently published discovery made by Israeli archeologists suggests that domesticated camel bones found in the Aravah Valley, in southern Israel, near the Jordanian border are more recent than previously thought. The domesticated camel bones were carbon-dated to about 900 B.C. by Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef and Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen of Tel Aviv University (Sarah Griffiths, “Do Camels Prove That the Bible Is Inaccurate? Archaeologists Reveal Mammals Were Domesticated in 900 BC – Centuries After Biblical Characters Rode Them,” The Daily Mail at DailyMail.co.uk, February 4, 2014).

According to previous research, domesticated camels were dated to the 12^th century B.C. when they are believed to have arrived in Israel. These dates would be near the reigns of King David and King Solomon. But the real controversy comes from the fact that domesticated camels are mentioned in the Bible during the time of Abraham, about 1,000 years earlier than the 900 B.C. date.

So, is the Bible accurate or were the camels added by later writers?

Camels, specifically those domesticated to be ridden and used as transport, are mentioned in the Bible from Genesis 12:16 onward. Abraham owned them, logically so since he was a wealthy merchant-prince and had flocks of many animals, and need of transporting goods. Isaac used them, the Egyptians used them (well proven in Egyptian art from before the time of Abraham), Jacob owned them, and the Amalekites and Midianites also used them, mentioned prominently when they troubled Israel during the era of the book of Judges (Judges 7:12).

If we believe that God inspired the Biblical record and that what has been preserved for us in the Bible we have today is accurate, then there has to be a logical explanation. First of all, it doesn’t really make sense for later writers to retro-fit domesticated camels into the Biblical record. There is no significant prestige to be had for describing camels as domesticated at an earlier time if they were not in fact.

Secondly, wild camels existed at all of the times and places mentioned, therefore, taming and training such animals for domesticated use is logical. If God designed wild camels to be domesticated, then, like horses (which can return to a wild state and have to be broken to ride multiple times) the wild and domestic camels very probably co-existed.

Lastly, the Aravah Valley is an historically significant location with ancient copper mines, but it doesn’t represent all of the land of Canaan (or Israel, Palestine, parts of Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan as we know it now). Using a small area to draw overarching conclusions about a larger territory is problematic.

When you trust in the Biblical record, then evidence to support the truth of the Bible will be forthcoming. You can count on it.

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