I recently saw a replica of the black obelisk of Shalmaneser III, and thought it was interesting that it depicted Bactrian Camels (two humped), and thought this was interesting because it implied the Assyrian sphere of influence extended all the way into central Asia.
I looked up the text of the obelisk, and it says the following about the camels:
"The tribute of 'Su'a of the country of the Guzanians: silver, gold, lead, articles of bronze, sceptres for the King's hand, horses (and) camels with double backs: I received. ... The tribute of the country of Muzri: camels with double backs, an ox of the river 'Saceya, horses, wild asses, elephants, (and) apes: I received."
Looking this up on Wikipedia, it implies that Muzri is Egypt, the name similar to the Hebrew Mizraim, but there are no Bactrian camels there. A bit of googling found another inscription from an obelisk, that of Tiglath-Pilezer I. It says:
"My Lord Ashur having urged me on, I took my way to the vast country of Muzri, lying beyond Elammi, Tala, and Kharutsa;"
If Elammi is Elam, this would imply that Muzri is around Bactria, which explains the camels.
Is there a consensus as to where this place is? What about some of the other countries mentioned in the stele?
G. H. Richardson in “The Value of Biblical Archaeology”, 1916, seems convinced that it indicates Northern Arabia, and argues against a biblicist assertion that it's related to "Mizraim", identified with the Nile Valley. Berthold Laufer, "Chinese Clay Figures", 1914, cursorily claimed that it signifies an Armenian tribe to the northeast of Nineveh.
Obviously, these aren't exactly recent, but I can't find any more modern references to the term and I'd never heard it before. It could be an outdated misreading, or something merely neglected since the early 1900's, or I could just be looking in the wrong places.
Where did you encounter the term? That might help track down more information.
Edit: Derp, shouldn't post on mobile. I failed to see your entire post! That gives a lot more to go on. I'll post a follow-up later.
Might do some proactive tagging
/u/asdjk482
/u/tweedy_impertinence
/u/husky54
