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they left their traces on the body of the injured.
A few decades ago, long caravans used to travel
through the undulating sands of the desert which is like a
coastless sea. They used to follow trails left by previous
caravans beginning with the ancient ancestors 3,500 to
4,000 years ago. At that time, the famous silk road from
China together with the perfume road was frequented from
Queen Sheba’s Kingdom – the Yemen of today, to Syria,
Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. After crossing great
distances through which there was no animal or plant,
merchants would bring commodities of food and plain
water for sale or trade exchange, which commodities were
very expensive in this part of the world. Bedouin families
also were always on the move searching for pasture.
Pilgrims’ caravans from all over the world used to inter-
cross as they passed through the valley of the Arabian
Peninsula on their way to the two holy cities: Mecca and
Medina. Hundreds and thousands of camels used to travel
at 5 kilometers per hour in a unified mobile chain in a
monotonous way amidst the moving sands or the black
lava fields, punctuated by short stops and long travel in the
hottest times of the day, and sometimes at night, for weeks
and months. The cameleer’s songs would either serve to
reassure the camels of the soon arrival to the water and
the grazing fields or to encourage them to maintain their
strength and not to lose their way. The rhythm of the
cameleer’s song determines the speed or slowness of the
movement of the caravan.
Women and children, jewelry, as well as very expensive
belongings would be carried inside howdahs that are
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carried by camels. The people inside the howdah would
be protected from the heat of the sun, the sand storms and
the curious eyes of strangers by dark curtains that hang
down the howdahs, which have various names depending
on the functions they perform. Some constituted artistic
products and are made of special cloth; others are made
of gazelle hides and decorated with drawings, slogans,
symbols, laces and ribbons. Such an unstable miniature
house, like a bedouin tent, was their home, as they spend
quite a lot of time therein.
Often, the camel is described as the “desert ship”. This
well known name fits the nature of this animal that is
enamored with work. Anyone mounting its back will realize
that sitting on or near its hump makes one feel as though
one was on a light ship. Such worrying and fluctuating
movements makes a novice suffer as though he was sea
sick. However, soon one gradually gets used to these
movements and become like an expert sailor that does not
feel any discomfort or pain. This is not to mention those
who are used to riding camels, who feel more at ease on
camels’ back than when sitting on the ground or walking
on the same ground. On the other hand, the camel’s pad
is famously adapted to the sandy, pebbly, stony and even
rocky ground. The undulations of the skin that are as hard
as pins on the knees, chest and belly of the camel, where
the body touches the ground all these protect the camel
from painful wounds and bruises. We can visualize the
caravan that proceeds along the edge of the desert land that
extends like an endless chain under the inclement and hot
rays of the sun, to the accompaniment of the monotonous
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ringing of the bells that hang round the long necks of these
long suffering animals that labor under loads that are too
heavy for them. They have covered several days of travel
and have more weeks to go, while those mounted on the
camels do not look like living beings, their faces having
been covered with a layer of sand, have merged with their
animals and look as though they were part of the loads,
not living human beings that have feelings. Some camels
moan and shake and even shed tears in consequence of
their exhaustion. Suddenly, the wind raises in the far off
horizon a hardly perceptible cloud of dust. In a minute,
a sand storm surrounds everything and removes the light
layer of sand from the top of the dunes and pushes them
strongly in the direction of the moving caravans. At this
point, the leading camel in the front turns his back sharply
towards the strong, piercing current, folds its legs under
its belly and down it lands on the ground. It closes its
two rows of eyelashes, closes it narrow eyelids like shells
closing on pearls, and the other camels follow suit. This is
the long awaited period of rest! People jump to the ground
in great ecstasy and gather together wrapped in their men’s
cloaks and line up in close contact with the camels, where
they find total security, while thirst is not that painful and
can wait for hours to come.
The bedouin is happy when he finds a protected refuge
like that. He appreciates that this defense is the greatest
gift sent to him by God Almighty. Therefore, it must be
adequately appreciated and taken good care of.
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The Gold Market and a Tour in the Desert
It is universally acknowledged that the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia is a legendary rich country and occupies
first position in the world in respect of oil extraction.
In other words, it may be described as possessing the
greatest quantity of black gold in the world. But this alone
is not the whole story, for in the Kingdom there are great
reserves of copper, zinc, lead, nickel, iron ores, uranium,
salt, natural gas and other valuable deposits, which I leave
it to specialists to talk about. But I would like to talk in
some detail about gold and silver of which there are great
reserves, or rather about the things that are made of them
by skilful craftsmen that are well known in the east, which
is proud of them. I do not wish to talk about matters that
are obvious and taken for granted, but I will touch on a
well known fact, namely, that jewelry have always been
important things for the majority of women, particularly
eastern women. Hence, the Arab countries have always
been famous for their markets and stores that sell golden
jewelry.
The golden market has always fascinated spectators.
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