Saddle of camel: early stages

In this day and age many people have had the opportunity to sit atop a camel for a few minutes or days, as tourist operators the world over have realized the appeal these strange animals hold to the Westerner intent on experiencing the Orient. What we don't realize as our thighs chafe, backs ache, and butts get sore is that the piece of wood and cloth separating us from the ugly brute tells us everything we need to know about the history of the camel in that area.

Most of the time, you'll be perched behind the camel's hump, sitting atop the sacrum or pelvic juncture. This method is the easiest to learn and the most comfortable for those without the right callouses, and as such is preferred for first-time riders like tourists or the earliest domesticators.

These were fishermen of coastal Oman who turned to the camel for its milk. When the animal was ridden, it was with a simple mat tied behind the hump. Later, this padding was refined into a full-fledged saddle. Both of these designs are dominant in Somalia and East Africa, where camels were introduced at an early date and are still kept primarily for milk. In Arabia, however, there was to come a more efficient design that would change the role of the camel forever.

Source: Bulliet, R. 1975. The Camel and the Wheel. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.