18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ancient Arabic temple art depicts early camel hybrids

Evidence of early camel hybrids of dromedary and Bactrian camels has been uncovered by archaeologists who were working to restore a temple in northern Iraq damaged by ISIS.

The find was made the Temple of Allat in Hatra, which is around 70 kilometers from Mosul.

The Temple of Allat, which dates from the 2nd century AD, is located in the city of Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The impressive ancient city was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Hatra and was a metropolis city. Between 2015 and 2017, religious radicals destroyed the historic city’s ruins significantly.

Aliph-ISMEO research programs have been attempting to restore the city since then. In the process, researchers led by Professor Massimo Vidale of the Università Degli Studi di Padova in Italy detected hybrid camels in a frieze on a lintel above a door at the Temple of Allat.

Previous studies had identified eight dromedaries and two Bactrian camels in the frieze. However, the team’s research, published in the journal Antiquity, identified that the face and fur of the ‘Bactrian’ camels are more similar to hybrids of Bactrian and dromedary camels.

Additionally, there is a limited indentation between the humps, as seen in modern hybrids. Such hybrids are prized for being stronger and more resilient than the parent species.

Artwork on a temple in northern Iraq depicts hybrid camels flanking a royal figure.
Artwork on a temple in northern Iraq depicts hybrid camels flanking a royal figure.


The frieze was likely added during renovation by King Sanatruq I and his son, Abdsamiya, around AD 168. During these renovations, the royals added statues of themselves and rededicated the site to the goddess Allat. Camel appears to have been a sacred animal to Allat.

People have been breeding camels since the first century AD, according to the oldest hybrid camel animal skeletons recovered from the Roman and Parthian empires.

This husbandry practice went into effect thousands of years ago because it leads to stronger and more resilient animals. Hybrid camels could carry double the load of dromedaries and more than double what a Bactrian camel could support.

Despite its diminutive size when compared with the surrounding empires, the kingdom of Hatra was still able to import distant Bactrian camels from the steppes of Central Asia and breed camels as a show of power.

“The construction of the Temple of Allat seems to be a bold move by King Sanatruq I importing Allat – one of the most important pre-Islamic Arab deities,” said Professor Vidale. In the process, it captured evidence of camel hybridization. It has been speculated hybrid breeding has been taking place for millennia, but physical evidence is limited. The oldest known skeletons of hybrid camels have been found in the Roman and Parthian Empires and date to the first century AD.

The Temple of Allat in the ancient city of Hatra is shown as it undergoes restoration.
The Temple of Allat in the ancient city of Hatra is shown as it undergoes restoration.

As such, the frieze helps expand the history of early camel hybrids, showing there were breeding programs outside of these powerful empires. It also sheds light on the Kingdom of Hatra. This small kingdom neighboured the Roman and Parthian Empires, even withstanding a siege by Trajan. Despite the small size and often unfriendly neighbors, the frieze shows that the kings of Hatra were able to accumulate enough wealth to import Bactrian camels from their distant central Asian homeland.

Creating and owning the best camels was also a political move because it created a direct association between the king and a sacred animal — and distinguished the kingdom from relying on its powerful neighbors.

“By appealing to Arab groups, the king made a serious step in the process of detaching Hatra from the shadow of the Parthian empire,” Vidale said.

It also hints at some of the political schemings of the king, with the image associating him with the sacred animal of one of the most important pre-Islamic Arab deities.

The king might have even had a monopoly on the breeding of these special camels, as well as an interest “in the management of the long-distance caravans of an ancient Silk Road that could expand the trade interests that made Hatra so rich,” the researchers wrote in the study.“The king’s camels are always the best.”

A study detailing the findings published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity.

Related Articles

Archaeologists Unearth Exceptionally Preserved Roman Wicker Well in Norfolk, England

4 July 2025

4 July 2025

A team of archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology has uncovered a remarkably intact Roman-era well in Norfolk, England, revealing new insights...

483 Celtic gold coins worth several million euros stolen from German museum

23 November 2022

23 November 2022

A huge horde of ancient gold coins dating back to 100 BC was stolen from the Celtic and Roman Museum...

New study reveals Dog ancestry can be traced back to two separate wolf populations

30 June 2022

30 June 2022

An international group of geneticists and archaeologists with participation of the University of Potsdam have found that the ancestry of...

Polish archaeologists have uncovered nine crocodile heads within ancient Egyptian tombs of nobles

25 December 2022

25 December 2022

Polish archaeologists excavating the Theban Necropolis in Egypt discovered nine crocodile heads hidden inside two tombs belonging to high-ranking nobles....

A courtesan ‘hetaira’ tomb was discovered in a burial cave during excavations in Via Hebron

27 September 2023

27 September 2023

During excavations in the Via Hebron in Jerusalem, a burial cave containing the tomb of a courtesan (hetaira in Ancient...

Lost 14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

During an archaeological excavation in Visegrád, a fortified medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Danube in northern Hungary, the...

Archaeologists Discover 2,000-Year-Old Jug in Tajikistan Bearing Woman’s Name

4 July 2025

4 July 2025

In a discovery of rare historical and cultural significance, archaeologists in southern Tajikistan have uncovered a 2,000-year-old clay jug bearing...

A 1,600-year-old church has been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Priene

19 October 2021

19 October 2021

A 1,600-year-old historical church was unearthed during the excavations in the Ancient City of Priene, located in the western province...

Archaeologists have found a previously unknown Roman city with buildings of monumental proportions in Spain’s Aragon Region

17 July 2022

17 July 2022

Archaeologists from the University of Zaragoza in Spain have discovered a previously unknown Roman city with buildings of monumental proportions....

A Roman sarcophagus bearing the title of “Emperor’s Protector” was found for the first time in Anatolia

29 April 2022

29 April 2022

A sarcophagus carrying the title of “Emperor’s protector” was discovered in the province of Kocaeli in western Turkey. With the...

A long-lost branch of the Nile helped in building Egypt’s pyramids – Scientists Say

1 September 2022

1 September 2022

The Giza Pyramids are one of the world’s most iconic cultural landscapes, and they have fascinated humans for thousands of...

Urfa Castle Yields Mysterious Rock-Cut Tomb Possibly Tied to Abgar Dynasty—Early Christian Allies of Jesus

5 July 2025

5 July 2025

A recent archaeological breakthrough in southeastern Turkey has stirred excitement in the academic world. Deep within the inner citadel of...

Ruins of the 700-year-old wharf, possibly used by royalty, found in Oslo

6 March 2023

6 March 2023

An excavation by NIKU archaeologists in Oslo’s seaside neighborhood of Bjørvika has uncovered the remains of a long section of...

Archaeologists Unearth Unique and Exceptionally Preserved Roman Wooden Water Pipe in Belgium

8 May 2025

8 May 2025

Nestled in the Flanders region of Belgium, not far from the country’s capital, Brussels, the charming city of Leuven is...

Unique semi-mummified body tomb discovered in Pompeii

17 August 2021

17 August 2021

A semi-mummified skeleton was discovered in the Porta Sarno necropolis, which is located east of Pompeii’s city center and is...