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Early Arabian capital survives vandals — and reveals a quest for the ultimate camel

Militants who occupied the centuries-old city of Hatra left behind artwork depicting hybrid camels.
Two-humped camels flanking a royal portrait in the centre of the lintel on a wall, circa second-century AD in Hatra, Iraq.

Some of the camels carved in stone on an ancient temple have humps that suggest they are Bactrian camel-dromedary hybrids. Credit: Aliph-ISMEO project at Hatra

An ancient city damaged by the Islamist terrorist group ISIS features stone carvings of some unexpected beasts: early camel–dromedary hybrids1.

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Nature 602, 11 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00175-7

References

  1. Vidale, M., Berlioz, S. & Mohammed, R. Antiquity https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2021.169 (2022).

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