Camel racing popular again

Press, 24 April 1984, Page 36

Camel racing popular again

NZPA-Reuter Bahrain The Camel, that ungainly beast whose unique stamina played a vital role in conquering the deserts of Arabia, is undergoing a resurgence in popularity. After a partial eclipse by the trappings of the oil boom, which brought everything from Cadillacs to computers to Arabia, the camel is again an object of veneration as the Arabs of the Gulf look back to their Bedouin roots. Camel races have become major events, occupying prime time on television, with emirs and sheikhs arriving in private jets to watch thoroughbred animals vying for lavish prizes. Officials in the Gulf States say the resurgence of interest in camels, encouraged by the region’s rule, is helping to fill a cultural vacuum created by its rapid transformation from primitive tribal society to oil-based affluence. Generous prizes for race winners are seen as an expression of gratitude to the beast whose qualities ensured the survival of the Bedouin against the cruelty of the desert. Some Arabs also see the trend as a means of encouraging the Bedouin to preserve their way of life instead of adopting Western

ways, as the Gulf Arabs look back beyond their oil wealth to their proud and independent origins. The camel, whose history in the Arabian Peninsula goes back at least 4000 years, sustained almost every aspect of the gruelling Bedouin lifestyle. Its milk was a food staple for most of the year, the meat provided a rich delicacy for special occasions, and its hair and hide provided the material for shelter from the merciless sun.

The camel, with its unique ability to go for days without water, allowed the Bedouin to cross the sands in search of wells and oases and carried the Arab warriors of old on their conquests of the Middle East to spread the word of Islam. Officials in Saudi Arabia see the annual meeting sponsored by King Fahd, the biggest event in the camelracing calendar, as holding an importance beyond sporting interest alone. “It is the time when town people and the Bedouin of the kingdom get together,” said Mr Abdullah al-Bas-sam, director-general of the Saudi Equestrian Club, which organises the race. King Fahd, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zaid ibn Sultan al-Nahayan, and Bahrain’s Crown Prince,

Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa alKhalifa, attended the recent meeting. Hundreds of camelowners and their boyjockeys arrive at the desert racecourse, 50km from Riyadh, three weeks before the race and stay as the guests of the Government. More than 1000 camels take part in the meeting, divided into two sessions for a race over a 19km course. The Government offers prizes worth more than $40,000 for the winner of each race, with about $4OO paid to every entrant. The race “also reflects

the interest of the Government headed by the King in the Bedouin and serves as a reminder of the past life of the country,” Mr Bassam said. “After all, the camel has been a friend of the Goverment for a long time,” he added. Mr Bassam, like many Saudi elders, remembers with apparent nostalgia the days of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, who spent four months every year wandering the desert to

meet the Bedouin tribes. Saudis say the veneration of the camel and the Bedouin ways lapsed with the old king's death in 1953 as his successor, King Saud, embraced a lavish lifestyle spurned by his father. But love of the old ways began to return with the succession in 1964 of the more traditional King Faisal.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, camels are kept by the rich, partly for milk but also as “a symbol of the past life and its authenticity,” as one owner put it.'