The camel was a symbol of wealth for Arabs, for the animal had enabled merchants to become rich by forming caravans that transported luxury products, like silk and spices, over great distances. This vessel comes from Raqqa, which is situated on the Euphrates at a place where merchandise brought by boat from China and India via the Persian Gulf was unloaded and put on the backs of camels, which then set off for Aleppo and Antioch. This type of ceramic, with its painted, dark blue decoration under a transparent turquoise glaze, was common in Syria during the Ayyubid period, and Raqqa was the largest center of production. It was widely held at the time that turquoise could ward off disease, which explains why the color was so popular.