The Conundrum of Camels

According to National Geographic, and a team of archaeologists in Israel, the bible got camels wrong.  Seriously, here's a link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140210-domesticated-camels-israel-bible-archaeology-science/  What is at stake here is quite important.  While some may downplay the issue as merely one of camels, what is really at stake is the question of the historical validity of the book of Genesis.

You see, if the writer of Genesis got the information about Abraham having camels wrong, then how can we trust any of his other historical observations.  And if we cannot trust the historical observations of Genesis, how do we trust the theological and religious statements made?  That is, if the author is wrong about Abraham having camels, is it possible that the writer of Genesis got the conversations between Abraham and God wrong?  Perhaps a better question would be, "How can we trust the writer would get theological details right when he can't even get basic facts of history correct?"

So, what are we to do with the article above?  Well, let's first examine the evidence, and the claims made.

The claim is as follows: There were no domesticated camels in Abraham's time, therefore the use of camels in Genesis are, at best, an anachronism.

The evidence is that a camel graveyard was excavated at a copper mine and there were no camel bones found that demonstrated evidence of domestication outside of 930-900 BC.

So the evidence is pretty compelling.  After all, if there had been domesticated camels then surely Israelites would have been using them for mining purposes prior to the time they were found.  The lack of camel bones in earlier strata is a compelling testimony to the fact that there were no domesticated camels prior to the end of the 10th century BC.  Or is that the case?

What evidence demonstrates is actually significantly more limited than the claim made.  The evidence demonstrates that camels were not used for carrying copper prior to the time period investigated.  Further the evidence indicates that camels, if they were domesticated, were not the common pack animals used during the time in question in that region of Israel.  But, that is the extent of the claims that can be made in regards to the validity of camels in Scripture.

In other words, the evidence demonstrates that camels were being used for mining purposes by the end of the 10th century BC.  It does not demonstrate that there were no uses of domesticated camels in other areas or for other purposes prior to the 10th century BC.  The argument that the lack of domesticated camels being used for mining prior to this period demonstrates that there were no domesticated camels is, at best, a very large leap in logic.

Other evidence gives a strong reason to believe camels were, in fact, domesticated prior to the 10th century BC.  For a brief look at the other evidence here's another article: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/february-web-only/latest-challenge-bible-accuracy-abraham-anachronistic-camel.html