NABAT AEAN WARRIOR SADDLES

EVE FRENCH

Much of the change in the bedouin way of life can be attributed to the development of thedromedary saddle. It is not possible to overemphasize the importance of this accoutrement,which transformed what was previously a pastoral, or transport animal, into a formidableelement of war and conquest. In the Near East the bedouins were well known for their war-likeexpeditions and, being rider warriors, they no doubt used the saddle on the hump, as the topspeed of the dromedary can only be achieved with the rider in this position (Dostal 1959, 14).The size of the hump diminishes at a steady rate without flaccidity, thus providing a stableriding position; it is predominently of fat derived from the animal's food and providesconvenient storage from which it can draw when conditions are adverse. Other characteristicswhich enable the animal to cope with the climate experienced in the deserts include a doublerow of heavy eyelashes, hair protection within the inner ear, the ability to close the nostrils, anda keen sense of sight and smell.

A noticeable increase in the herds of camels appears to date roughly from the ninth toseventh century B.C. This may be attributed partly to the increased demand for camels as packanimals to cope with the expanding incense and spice trade, which led to larger caravans, andpartly to the steadily growing requirements of rider warriors. The Assyrian kings enrolled andused the tribes in the expansion of their empire (Barnett 1970, 14).

The earliest rendering of a camel saddle is on a relief from the palace of Sennacherib(Fig. I), late eighth century B.C.; on this relief the saddle is shown on the hump, with a breaststrap, crupper, and probably a girth, even an arch. The next rendering is on the relieffrom theAssurbanipal Palace recording a war against the Arabs (Barnett 1970); the saddle shows onepadded cloth covering the hump, with trappings more or less identical with the ones from thePalace ofSennacherib, but without an arch. Both of these reliefs record the use of what has cometo be known as the North Arabian saddle, which dates from, at the latest, the middle of theeighth century B.C., at the time of the alliance of King Sargon with the Scythians. This throwssome doubt on Dostal's dating of the North Arabian saddle to about 500 B.C. According toDostal, the trappings on the camel saddle originated from the Scythians. Bulliet's assertion thatthe Assurbanipal relief shows the South Arabian saddle, which is behind the hump (Bulliet1975, 78-80) is wrong, as it can be seen on the falling camel (Barnett 1970, relief I 15) that thesaddle cloth is secured by a girth around the hump of the animal (Fig. 2).

Herodotus, writing of Xerxes' (486-70 B.C.) campaign against the Greeks, at the partwhere he refers to the Achaemenids following the Assyrians' 'levee en masse', says, 'TheArabians had the same equipment as the men of their infantry, and all of them rode camels noless swift than horses' (Book VI, 86). From this it could reasonably be assumed that the NorthArabian saddle was used to help them to get the maximum speed out of the animals. Changesand improvements in the design and fashioning of the North Arabian saddle were introducedlater, particularly by the Nabataeans, who would have found improvizations or adaptationsnecessary to cope with operations over their extended territories, quite apart from therequirements of their nomadic way of life.

Some figurines excavated in 1956-64 by Mr Peter Parr, which display the Orientaltendency to reproduce meticulously external appearances (RostovtzefT 1935, 299), give arealistic rendering of the saddle and equipment of military dromedaries. They follow the artistic

NABATAEAN WARRIOR SADDLES

Fig. I.

Fig. 2.

66

Fig. 3.

Fig. 5.

PALESTINE EXPLORATION QUARTERLY

Fig. 4.

Fig. 6.

NABATAEAN WARRIOR SADDLES

tradition of laying stress on what the artist wishes to represent as the most important feature(Avi-Yonah 1944, 113). The fundamental construction of the saddle on the figurines is that thetop of the dromedary's body is covered by a quilted cloth, usually ornate, which overlaps the twoarches one in front and one at the back. Between those arches is another quilted cloth of adifferent pattern for the rider to sit on. The hump of Figure 3 is covered by such cloth. Frontdouble arches join an ornate rectangular pad, the front being larger than the back, probably toprotect against abrasion of the animal's skin. Below on either side a coil is attached to the pads,linked by straps, the upper one straight and the lower one curved following the shape of thebody. Below there are two mor~ similar straps, and underneath a padded cloth covering thebelly of the animal. There is a double girth in the middle of the belly, and both crupper andbreast straps are double. A shield with a rosette design attached to the double crupper next tothe saddle underlines the military purpose of the accountrement.

Figure 4 similarly has a quilted cloth in the same position as the one described above butdiffers in its trappings. The front arch is similar to that of Figure 3, but the rear one is narrowerand has multiple ornate pads probably joined underneath by a band. Double straps slantdownwards from the bottom of each of the arches, joining at a sharp angle, the outer onecontinuing round the body as a double girth. A scabbard holding a short dagger-sword ishitched to the curve of the double strap. An oblong bag is attached to the crupper, probablyeither for water or arrows.

Figure 5 differs from those above; the saddle cloth is plain in front of, and between, thearches, and there is also a padded, fluted cloth on the hind part of the body. The front arch has aknob, perhaps an indication of the pommel, with two plain arches forward and a further twobehind, set at a lower level. The girth is similar in shape to Figure 4, but the middle archcontinues to form part of the girth; the first arch is attached to the breast strap, whichjoins thesecond arch. In front, part of a breast strap is shown probably passing around the body toprevent the strap from sliding. A new element is a different front arch and the breast strap acrossthe body. A sword or dagger in a scabbard is attached to the back arch; n\ext to it is a shieldpositioned close to the tail. On the relief of the god Arsu in Dura Europos, the shield is similarlypositioned (Rostovtzeff 1935, Fig. 44). A small sherd (Fig. 6) shows a dromedary rider sittingastride, with the leg positioned in front of a coil which, similar to the one in Figure 3, links twostraps. This shows the mounted position of the Nabataean rider. The forward position of the legis probably to guide or direct the dromedary by pressure of the leg on the neck.

Even ifin some instances certain artistic licence may have been taken, the saddles depictedno doubt represent those on which the Nabataeans exercised their skill. When Trajanauthorized the annexation of the new province and the raising of troops from the formerNabataean army, the natives were invaluable to Rome for their expertise in camel riding(Bowersock 1983, 153).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The drawing by Layard (G.D. IV, Misc. XI) in Figure I and the relief in Figure 2 are reproduced bycourtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum. Figures 3-6 are reproduced with the permission ofMr P.].Parr.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Avi-Yonah, M., 1944. 'Oriental Elements in the art of Palestine in the Roman and Byzantine Periods,' QDAP 10, 105-5!.

Barnett, R. D., 1970. As.ryrian Palace Reliefs in the British Museum (London).Bowersock, G. W., 1983. Roman Arabia (Cambridge, Mass., and London).Bulliet, R. W., 1975. The Camel and the Wheel (Princeton).Dostal, W., 1959. 'The evolution of Bedouin life,' in F. Gabrielli (ed.), L'Antica Societa Bedouina (Rome).Rostovtzeff, M., 1935. Dura Europos and the Problem of the Parthian Art (Cambridge).