DOMESTICATION OF CAMELS AND

MUWEILAH
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE
1.The ________system was to remain one of the most remarkable features of
agriculture and village life throughout the UAE.
2. A falaj is an underground channel that carries _________ from sources in the
mountains and springs to where it is needed.
3. At the coastal town of ________ in the Sharjah region, people used new types of
wells that tapped the fresh water that lay above salty water
STARTER ACTIVITY- FIND OUT THE
HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF IMAGE-1
AND THE TYPE OF CAMEL (IMAGE-2)
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the effect that the dromedary camel had on the
society living at thew time.
Identify the importance of the city of Muweilah in the
history of the UAE
 LEARNING OUTCOME
Students will be able to

Explain how the domestication of camels affect the

economy of the UAE area
Describe the importance of the city of Muweilah in the
history of the UAE.
Illustrate UAE’s trade with the countries in the Middle East
and other parts of the world.
 THE DOMESTICATION OF
CAMEL
For about 10,000 years , people in the UAE area shared the land
with large herds of wild camels. They hunted wild camels and used
its meat for food and camel hide to make clothes.
Domesticated camels were present in the UAE by,1000 BCE. It changed the lives
in the UAE area forever.
Camels provided much greater quantities of milk than sheep or
goat.
Camels allowed people to travel long distance through desert.
 DROMEDARY CAMEL
For thousands of years before the domesticated camel , people
focused on living in the interior oases like Al Ain, in the
mountain, or on the coast, like Umm Al Nar.
They did not travel from place to place much because they
could not travel through the hot, dry desert.
With the domesticated dromedary camel ,people could travel
through the desert and it permitted people to transport goods
across the entire country.
The ability to travel long distances and transport good created a
more connected economy and led to the expansion of towns
and villages in the desert.
 DROMEDARY CAMEL
Arabian camels, also known as
dromedaries, have only one hump, but
they employ it to great effect.
The hump stores up to 80 pounds of
fat, which a camel can break down
into water and energy when
sustenance is not available.
These humps give camels their
legendary ability to travel up to 100
desert miles without water.
 MUWEILAH
With the expansion of overland trade new towns arose. One among
such town is now known by the name of Muweilah.
Muweilah is located in Modern day Sharjah, near Sharjah Airport.
Excavations revealed a large settlement dating from about 1000 to 700
BCE.
After 900 BCE, the people of the town dug a massive ditch and built
wall for protection. Perhaps they feared attacks.
About 200 years later the town was attacked and burned to the
ground. Although most of the people seem to have escaped some died
as the walls of the ground collapsed on them.
Why it was attacked remains a mystery. However it is clear that
Muweilah was very wealthy when it destroyed.
ARTEFACTS FROM MUWEILAH
The destruction of Muweilah preserved many amazing artefacts for
archaeologists to find thousands of years later.
One example is the lid of a large incense burner with a figurine of a
bull.
The incense burner was placed on the ground. As the incense
burned ,the smoke travelled through the holes and into the room.
Other incense burners contains figurines of camels, showing how
important this animal was to the inhabitants of Muweilah.
The use of incense became increasingly common during the Iron
age and began a tradition that is still an important part of the UAE
culture.
Muweilah is an example of the many desert villages and towns that
grew after the camel was domesticated.
Others have been discovered in the middle of the desert throughout
the UAE and Oman.
The people were living in these places traded goods across UAE
and into rest of Arabia.
At this time people of the UAE began to trade with areas of Yemen
and Oman for frankincense and other aromatics.
Eventually the overland camel-borne trade extended across the
Middle East and cities such as Palmyra in Syria emerged along
desert trade routes.
This marked the beginning of a new stage in the history of the UAE
INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING
IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING
CHALLENGES
CHALLENGE-1 TALK SHOW- DOMESTICATION OF CAMELS IN UAE
CHALLENGE -2 DEMONSTRATION – MUWEILAH AND ITS IMPORTANCE
IN THE HISTORY OF UAE
CHALLENGE-3 MIND MAP ON DOMESTICATION OF CAMELS IN UAE.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Around what year did people start to
domesticate camels?
Domesticated camels were present in the UAE
by,1000 BCE
2. What did domesticate dromedary camels
provide to people?
With the domesticated dromedary camel ,people
could travel through the desert and it permitted
people to transport goods across the entire country
and led to the expansion of towns and villages in
the desert.
3. How did the camel’s ability to travel
through the desert affect the economy of the UAE
area?
The ability to travel long distances and transport
good created a more connected economy and led
to the expansion of towns and villages in the
desert.
4. What was the artefact found at Muweilah
during the archaeological excavation? What was it
used for?
• The destruction of Muweilah preserved
many amazing artefacts for archaeologists to find
thousands of years later. They founded the lid of a
large incense burner with a figurine of a bull.
• The incense burner was placed on the
ground. As the incense burned , the smoke travelled
through the holes and into the room.
5. After the domestication of camel, whom
did people of UAE area trade with?
 At this time people of the UAE began to
trade with areas of Yemen and Oman eventually the
overland camel-borne trade extended across the
Middle East and cities such as Palmyra in Syria
emerged along desert trade routes.
SOURCE BASED ASSESSMENT
READ THE FOLLOWING EXTRACT AND WRITE
ANSWERS.
According to 3,000-year-old evidence
discovered at two excavation sites in Sharjah,
people in what is now the UAE were probably
the first to domesticate the wild camel. ... The
excavations have revealed almost 10 times as
many bones of domesticated dromedaries as at
any other single site in the Middle East. Camels
were probably first domesticated in the
Arabian Peninsula in the early first
millennium B.C. Archaeologists base this date
on mortality profiles of excavated skeletons,
the gender of the animals, and lesions on leg
bones that would have resulted from the
repetitive stress of working as pack animals.
Camels were domesticated in 3,000BC in
Arabia.
Camels were a key mode of transportation for Bedouins
and their supplies. They would carry early Emiratis
across deserts in blistering heat in search of water.
Their humps let them store up to 80 pounds of fat which
they can live off for weeks and even months! When a
camel finally does find water, he can drink up to 40
gallons in one go. Camels are very strong and can
carry up to 900 pounds for 25 miles a day. Camels were
also used as a form of currency, to pay brides' dowries
or the annual charity fee known as zakat. Camels could
also be very profitable if they won camel races or
beauty contests, as prizes included food, useful animals
and other essentials.
1.Where camels domesticated first?
2.When camels were domesticated?
3.What are the specialties of Arabian Camels?
4.How Camels are considered as economically
benefit to the people?
5.HOW DID PEOPLE USE CAMELS?
6.“Camels were a key mode of transportation for Bedouins
and their supplies” - Give reason.
PLENARY
ASSIGNMENT
REAL LIFE APPLICATION
HOTS