The camel, with head raised and braying though
an open jaw as it is rapidly moving forwards on
its four legs, the coat covered with dark chestnut
paint, the two humps highlighted by the
removable saddle.
Although the camel is not an animal native to
China, representations of the two-humped
Central Asian camel are frequently found in
Chinese ceramic tomb figurines.
This pack animal was an indispensable carrier of
goods on the Silk Road that linked China with the
regions and trade to Central Asia, India, Persia,
Africa, and southeastern Asia.
Traders often used camels to travel the Silk Road
and carry their goods from one place to another
because these animals could travel a long
distance without the need of water. Ceramists of
tomb figurines often created in clay entire
caravans of double-humped camels from Bactria
(modern-day Afghanistan) that carried in their
saddle bags goods along the Silk Road. Bactrian
camels can travel up to 30 miles a day, carry
hundreds of pounds, and go for more than a
week without water. They can endure very hot
and very cold temperatures, which allowed them
to travel across the forbidding deserts and the
high mountain ranges that extend west from
China into Central Asia.
- (RL.0953)
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