( CNN ) -- In the Old Testament , camels made for a very useful literary device . Primarily , they represent great wealth ; When Abraham journeys to Egypt , the Pharaoh offers him a huge bounty , including sheep , servants and -- the crÃ¨me de la crÃ¨me -- camels , in exchange for Abraham 's wife , Sarah ( though in fairness , the Pharaoh thought they were siblings ) . Camels are used later to demonstrate Abraham 's own riches ( acquired later in life ) , and ultimately , the good heart of his future daughter-in-law , Rebecca , who is chosen after she kindly offers the beasts of burden some water . Though these animals play a central role in Genesis , new evidence has called into question their existence in Israel during the lifespans of Abraham and his immediate descendents ( believed to be between 2000-1500 BC ) , and with it , the authorship of the bible . Professors Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen , archaeologists from Tel Aviv University in Israel , recently published a study after radiocarbon dating camel bones uncovered during excavations in the Aravah Valley -- an area on the border of Israel and the Arabian Peninsula , and one of the most logical spots where camels would have first been introduced into the country . Excavations uncovered the oldest camel bones yet found in Israel , and these dated no earlier than 940 BC -- at least 500 years later than when they are described in the bible . Read more : Inside the tomb of an ancient Egyptian brewer . `` This is a very good example that the stories were written at a much later time than they supposedly took place . The editor of these stories knew the camel was a draft animal used in his time for traveling across the desert , so of course Abraham , Jacob and David used camels . We call it an anachronism ; he projected the reality that he knew at his own time , '' says Ben-Yosef . He is also quick to point out that though the stories may have been written later , his findings do not necessarily cast doubt on the tales themselves . `` It does n't necessarily mean the stories are fiction or that there is no grain of truth in them . It does n't mean Abraham was n't a real figure ; he can still be a real figure . It just means that the guy who put them into written form gave the background according to his realities . There were no archaeologists back then to tell the author that camels were not around . '' Read more : The fight to save Bahrain 's 4,000-year-old burial mounds . The findings are not exactly new -- archaeologists have been doubting the feasibility of Abraham riding a camel into Egypt since the 1950s -- but according to Ben-Yosef , the use of radiocarbon dating of the bones does narrow down the window of possibility considerably . Naturally , not all are in agreement with the study 's conclusions . Alan Millard , a professor of Hebrew and ancient Semitic languages at the University of Liverpool says that while he does n't doubt the radiocarbon dating , he does n't believe it disproves that camels existed in the Patriarchal Age . `` The archaeologists were working in a valley south of the Red Sea , but the stories place Abraham in South Iraq in Ur and in Southern Turkey in the area of Harran before coming to Canaan . The fact that there were no camel bones from before 1000 BC in the south of the land does n't mean there were no camels anywhere else , '' he says . Read more : Mysterious structure found at bottom of ancient lake . `` It 's always dangerous to make a widespread statement on the basis of a small piece of evidence , '' he adds . Millard says that though rare , there is evidence that camels were used domestically during that period , including a Babylonian seal from between 1800 and 1700 BC carved in the style of Syria that depicts two deities sitting on a camel . Despite the biblical debate the study has kicked off , Ben-Yosef and Sapir-Hen say the primary focus of the research was not to question Genesis , but shed some light on the economic workings of the time . `` The introduction of domestic camels enabled long journeys in the Levant , and all the way to India . It represented profound socio-economic change , '' says Sapir Hen . `` Before then , they used donkeys , and they ca n't travel those long distances without water . It really opened up trade to the rest of the world . ''
A new study dating the remains of the Ark has spurred a debate on the bible 's authorship . Several passages in the bible depict camels being used for long journeys . Archeologists from Tel Aviv University say they were n't used until centuries after the biblical references .