Sunday, Dec 28, 2008
Gulf News
Madinat Zayed/Abu Dhabi: As Al Dhafra Camel Festival entered its fifth day on Saturday, more heritage lovers and tourists flocked the western region to savour the elaborate traditional event.
Many expatriates and tourists were fascinated by the camel beauty contest and camel auction.
An American man who has lived in Abu Dhabi for 20 years was very excited to witness such a unique event that demonstrated the "unbroken traditions".
"I'm familiar with the local culture and have been attending camel races but it's the first time I'm seeing this huge number of camels in one place," he told Gulf News.
"It's also fascinating to see the real ancient traditions of Bedouins," he added.
Camel owners and trainers from the UAE and other GCC countries gather everyday afternoon - since the start of the festival - around the auction circle to start the event that has proved to be a crowd puller.
The auctioneer stands in the middle of the circle with the camel and praises the animal's beauty and its origin.
"Here comes Bint Salama beauty... look at her proud steps and wonderful physical structure," shouts the auctioneer. "This pure breed walks like a Gazel. It's a great creature and certainly is worth a lot," he says.
Sayah Al Mazroui, director of the camel auction said: "The auction usually starts at Dh5,000 and could reach upto to millions depending on the camel history and family, its origin and beauty."
Bedouins always praise their camels and consider them 'blessed', because of their ability to survive in harsh conditions, and going for longer period of time without food or water.
Normally, a camel is considered 'pure' if it comes from other 'pure' five grandfathers, which apparently improves the quality of camel production.
History: Types of camels
Many camels originated from the Arabian Peninsula. They are classified according to their colours, structure or the tribes they were raised in. Two of the most popular types are:
Asayel camels: They are also known as Omanians They originated from the UAE and Oman.
They are very ancient and used to be called "Red Camels" or "Blessed Red" as Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) described them in Hadith.
They are very valuable, such that the pre-Islamic warrior Antara Bin Shadad crossed south of Arabian Peninsula to bring them as a dowry for his beloved Abla.
Majahim camels: They are originally from Najd, Saudi Arabia. They are known for their dark skin.
40-year-war
About 100 years before Islam,a long war broke out in Najd (middle of Saudi Arabia today) between two major sister tribes over a camel.
The war lasted 40 years with a number of major revenge battles between Baker tribe and Taglub tribe and was named after Basos, a woman from Baker whose camel was killed by Kolaib from Taglob, who got mad when the animal grazed on his land.
As Basos grieved over her lost camel, she called her tribe for revenge, a battle that ended after 40 years. Both tribes lost their best knights and worriers in that war.
Where to go
The festival is taking place near the camel race track at Madinat Zayed in the western region and will continue until January 1.
Yellow board signs are directing motorist to the location all the way, from Abu Dhabi \Tarif road.
Have you attended the festival? Did it help you better understand the culture and history of UAE?
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
