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NOT Scammed in Dubai!

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NOT Scammed in Dubai!

I thought I made a mistake, but it seems I was wrong!

Natan Slifkin
Dec 23, 2022
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NOT Scammed in Dubai!

www.rationalistjudaism.com

Well, well, well. In the previous post, I wrote about how I had been scammed by an antique dealer in Dubai, who upon learning that I wanted artifacts related to animals, passed off an Indian todi trumpet as a horn for summoning camels. But it turns out that I might not have been scammed, after all!

One reader pointed out that although Google’s reverse image search led to identifying the camel horn as a todi, it is in fact slightly different - my camel horn has a figurine on it. Also, todi trumpets general have chains, while my todi has a string. And there are other references online to such horns, with figurines and strings/straps, as camel horns:

And then there is a contemporary work of historic fiction, set in the Middle East, which makes reference to one such horn:

Of course, the design of these is certainly derived from a todi. But it may be that the todi was subsequently used as a camel horn. And given the number of references to this as a camel horn, it seems likely that it is indeed one.

The only question is whether this was in India - which, contrary to what I thought, actually has a longstanding tradition of camel herding - or in Arabia, having imported the design from India. But either way, I’m pleased to find out that it probably really is a camel horn!

Of course, the real test is to blow it. I tried that out this morning, and look at the result!

It works! Ah, the sweet thrill of vindication!

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NOT Scammed in Dubai!

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Howard Schranz
Dec 23, 2022

Gaspar and Balthazar, plus Melchior, r the 3 kings, the "Magi," who greeted Jesus.

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Sir Frankie Crisp
Jan 1

First, maybe the Ebay seller was scammed just like you may have been and is just writing what he was told?

Also, why not go to a zoo and just try it out near the camel enclosure?

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