Calling a camel or “shoe” is a Gulf heritage on the UNESCO list

The shoe is a popular heritage used to communicate between camels and their owners in the Arabian Gulf region.

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The Saudi Hamid Al-Marri shouts consecutive incomprehensible words, but his scattered camels respond immediately and gather to walk behind him in order.

The shoe was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in December.

"There is a special language between the owner of a camel and his camel," says Al-Marri, 36, who owns 100 camels in the Sayahed Ramah area. "The camels know the tone of their owner's voice and respond to him immediately," he said.

And if someone else calls her, she won't respond to him.

The executive director of the Heritage Authority in Saudi Arabia, Jasser Al-Harbash, says that the shoe “hits at the depth of the civilization of the Arabian Peninsula,” noting that the main goal of its registration is “to protect, document, and provide an opportunity for its development.”

He points out that there are "many rock carvings that painted camels and told the story of the camel, whether it was used in war or trade."

The “camel shoe” is a form of traditional oral expression in Arabia and a means of communication between a camel and its herder.

Al-Marri, a government employee who wore a gray coat over his dark cloak and wore the traditional shemagh, explains, "The camels are used if the camels are scattered, and the owner of the camels alerts them to gather so that they do not stray far."

As for “al-Abal, it is singing to her at the time of watering the water so that she drinks while she is happy,” explaining that this type includes words that contain spinning.

Another owner, Mansour Al-Qatoula, 34, says, "The owner of the camels calls his camels by their own names, and through repetition, they know their name and respond to it."

Al-Qatoula, a businessman in the real estate sector who owns more than 100 camels, inherited the art of talking with camels from his fathers and grandfathers, and he is determined to pass it on to his children.

"We inherit the care of camels from our father to our grandfather for more than 200 years," says the father of three.

He adds, "When the owner of the camel is interested in it and visits it constantly, the feelings are exchanged."

And some of his camels make a sound that resembles a growl, and he begins to sing to her, and he says, laughing after a camel approached him, “Look, he feels the same way.”

• Camels know the tone of their owner's voice and respond to him immediately, and if someone calls her, she will not respond.

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