anše.a.ab.ba [Sumerian, Donkey of the Sea] = ibilu [Akkadian, Camel]
-Sumerian-Akkadian Bilingual Word List of Domesticated Animals, Cuneiform Tablet Urra XIII, ca. Late 1st M BCE, Metropolitan Museum, New York
So now we know how camels came to be known as Ships of the Desert. Before Sumerian had a word for camel, they were called Donkeys of the Sea. I cannot imagine how to translate that old joke about Arab seamen in a way that might have gotten a laugh out of Rabih and the others. Camelmen don’t find donkeys to be at all funny.
Cuneiform Tablet Urra XIII, Sumerian-Akkadian Word List of Domesticated Animals