The story of my first book, Humr An-Naʿam, Treasure of the Desert begins in 1988, when my mother and I moved to the UAE to join my veterinarian father, who had recently been hired by a local Emirati businessman, Faraj Ali Bin Hamoodah. At the time, the Bin Hamoodah family owned a flock of two hundred camels that needed a dedicated caregiver. Today, three decades later, the population has grown more than three-fold to over 700 camels, and my father, still employed by the family, has become one of the handful of camel specialists in the world. Not surprisingly, my childhood revolved around camels, with me occasionally tagging along as my father did his rounds of camel farms. Although initially terrified by these tall beasts, I came to adore the unique animals and their gentle charm. For a while, I (unsuccessfully) lobbied my parents to buy me a pet camel to keep around our suburban home.
But my fondness for camels soon faded against the backdrop of adolescence and institutional learning. Only after I had resettled in the UAE as an adult did I come to appreciate the profound role these treasures of the desert have played both for me and my family. More importantly, I realized that the camel is the unheralded and underappreciated (at least by outsiders) centerpiece of the country’s ethnographic and historical identity. What began as a detailed account of camel racing as witnessed through my father’s eyes is now a chronicle of the relationship between Emiratis and their companion animal.
The Bin Hamoodah family’s history encapsulates this love. Through them, readers learn the lesser-known facts and technicalities about camel breed names, diet, and the intensive training regimen required for staging a typical race day. More importantly, their dedication to this maligned creature exemplifies how much camels and ancient Bedouin culture can teach us. Humr An-Naʿam in essence, is a celebration of the miracle of the camel.
Available at: TDC, Amazon, Kinokuniya Dubai, Borders Dubai, Jameel Art Center, XVA Gallery Dubai, Champaka Bangalore