Not allowed .. Damietta’s long history with eating Camel meat
- Sameh Hani
- 04 Jul, 2022
Many food taboos forbid the meat of a particular animal. One of the biggest ironies in Egypt occurs in Damietta Governorate as citizens are not allowed to eat camel meat. Yes, that is true, but that does not mean eating it is forbidden, however it dates back to a popular history in “Izbat Al-Lahm”. Samir El Talkhawy, 60, a butcher in “Izbat Al-Lahm” stated that Damietta citizens got disgusted due to several reasons. The first dates to history at the times of wars, when they were traveling long distances and ran out of water, they slaughtered the camels to take their water storage. The second return back to people watching the camels slaughtering, so they got disgusted and decided not to eat it. El Talkhawy noted that about only 5% of Damietta Governorate citizens eat lamb too. Adding to the previous two reasons, Ibrahim El Nezlawy, 35, a butcher in “Izbat Al-Lahm” stated that “we do not slaughter camels at all and if we decided to slaughter it, people will never come close to it” because it is unknown meat. El Nezlawy highlighted that camel meat is known in Sharqia Governorate and they slaughter it regularly. Damietta Governorate citizens narrated that one of the reasons dates back to the times of the fifth crusade when Damietta suffered from famine which was so dreadful in 1218. Camels were used as one of the war techniques. Mansoura governorate citizens wanted to help the Damietta governorate citizens, so they slaughtered the camels emptied their flesh, cleaned it well, stored food and supplies inside, sewed it and sprayed its skin with a disgusting smell then threw them in the Nile, so it passed beside the crusaders and they could not touch it because it’s smell was disgusting and by the end, it arrived safely to the Damietta governorate. That is why people believed that camels can be used in lots of other jobs, but cannot be slaughtered and eaten. Few citizens referred that eating camel meat invalidates “wudu” in Islamic prayers. El Sheikh Imam, 54, said that those who say so depend on weak hadeeth as the correct explanation was “after eating it is to wash the hands and mouth” because camel meat has an unpleasant odor and is very greasy, unlike the other types of meat.
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