Grete plente of Camelys schul hele þe, and dromedaries of Madyan and Effa schul come to þe, aƚƚ men schul come fro Saba, bryngyng gold and encense and schewyng̛ preysyng̛ to god.
-History of the Three Kings, Johannes de Hildesheim (1320-1375)
Carmelite friar John of Hildesheim was the first to put the Magi on camels. Matthew the Evangelist had written simply that they “came” and “went”, presumably afoot, during Christianity’s first thirteen hundred years. Until, suddenly, there was a Grete Plente of Camelys belonging to Midian and Ephah, son and grandson of Abraham. And now we can add the Dabouka belonging to Hajj Bashīr who, as his name reads, is himself a Pilgrim and Bringer of Good Tidings.