It's Jonathan Dunsky, author of the Adam Lapid historical mysteries. I hope you're doing well.
In today's email, I'd like to talk about an animal that used to be seen much more often in Israel than it is today: the camel.
This magnificent animal, the king of the desert, was widely used throughout the Middle East as a beast of burden of both men and cargo.
In the first half of the 20th century in the Land of Israel, camels were used to ferry goods, supplies, and raw materials. This was true not just in agricultural communities but also in urban centers, such as Tel Aviv, where camels hauled building materials used in the rapid expansion of the city.
Here's a photo of camels in Tel Aviv in the 1920s. They're walking down Allenby Street, which features prominently in the Adam Lapid books.
Camels fell out of favor as motorized vehicles became more prevalent. By the late 1930s, camels were hardly seen in Tel Aviv, a development that pleased the residents. That's why you don't encounter camels in any of the Adam Lapid books, which are set in the 1940s and '50s.
Camels continued to be used in more agricultural areas, but this ceased later as well. These days, camels in Israel are largely used as tourist attractions.
I'll leave you with another wonderful camel photo, this one taken in Kfar Vitkin, a small agricultural community in the Heffer Valley in Israel. This one is from 1939.
Photo credit: Zoltan Kluger, National Archives