Kalahari of Africa, and another was along the east coast
from the Blemmye to herders south of the kingdom of Kush
through grasslands until reaching southern Africa. One
other possibility is a complex route due south through the
center of Africa. Th e latter view is based on linguistic stud-
ies of the Khoikhoi, also known as Hottentots. Th e Khoikhoi
lived from the southern coast of Africa to the central African
forests, and linguists have established that the Khoikhoi lan-
guage was spoken by people in central Africa near the Sa-
hel steppes that spread west to east south of the Sahara. Th e
northernmost Khoikhoi may have acquired cattle from the
Sahara and transmitted them south until they reached the
Khoikhoi of the southern African plains. Th ese Khoikhoi
were nomads who adapted cattle to their wandering lives,
moving their herds to new pastures whenever the latest pas-
ture ran short of food for the cattle. Th e Khoikhoi who lived
near the southern coast of Africa were transhumant, migrat-
ing north to take advantage of the winter rains on the plains
and then migrating back south for the summer.
Complications for the theories of transmission of herd-
ing through western and central Africa are twofold. One is
that there were large rain forests without suitable pasture,
thus discouraging adoption of pastoralism as a way of life.
Th e other was the presence of the Baka, who lived in areas
stretching from Cameroon to eastern Africa. Th ey had a cul-
ture well adapted to the rain forest. Th ey were fully nomadic,
moving through the forest to follow game. To this day some
Baka continue to be fully nomadic. Th ey built no villages, us-
ing plants and perhaps elephant skins to create shelters that
they would abandon when they needed to fi nd more game.
Th eir lives may have focused on elephants, which provided
them with large amounts of food. Reliance on following game
for survival meant that the Baka could not support large,
dense populations, making their population sparse. Th e Baka
were oft en hostile to intrusions into their forests by other cul-
tures, and their poisoned arrows and spears would have made
moving cattle through their forest very diffi cult.
Th ere was probably no part of Africa that was untouched
by nomads, but pastoralists were somewhat restricted to open
territories, though some cut down forest to create more pas-
tures. Th eir adaptations to the Sahara were long-term fail-
ures, partly because their overgrazing probably increased
the speed of the Sahara’s drying as well as helping make the
desert larger. Th e Khoikhoi apparently did not have a similar
problem; their eff ort to expand into new pastures was moti-
vated not so much by degradation of the land but by popula-
tion growth.
EGYPT
BY MARK ANTHONY PHELPS
Pastoralism predated agriculture in the Nile Valley. Domes-
ticated cattle imported from southwestern Asia were unques-
tionably in the Delta by the middle of the sixth millennium.
Some scholars argue that two cow bones found in Nabta Playa
in the Western Desert and dating to 9300 b.c.e. are domesti-
cated, but the theory has not found many proponents. Early
pastoralists continued to engage in foraging activities in the
Nile Valley and western oases. Agriculture was imported
from southwestern Asia in the fi ft h millennium. Th e advent
of agriculture necessitated moving the animals between the
times of planting and harvesting. As the Nile Valley became
more intensively farmed, herders in Lower Egypt began to
seasonally migrate to the Delta with their herds.
Another factor in the presence of nomadism in the re-
gion is the drying of the Sahara. Th e eastern Sahara (com-
prising Chad, Libya, Sudan, and Egypt) experienced a wet
period from about 8500 b.c.e. to 4000 b.c.e. Th e subsequent
drying period, which continues to the present day, corre-
sponded with a dramatic rise in Nile Valley agricultural set-
tlements. Cattle were the fi rst animals that were herded on a
large scale, but as the Sahara was becoming drier during the
fi ft h millennium and native grasses were dwindling, sheep
and goats came to replace cattle in many areas. Evidences of
both are found in the El Faiyûm region and at Merimda by
about 5000 b.c.e.
Settlements have been discovered from the Neolithic Pe-
riod in the Western Desert. Th ese seasonal settlements are
spotted by the presence of hearths. Cattle were the predomi-
nant species herded, though sheep and goat remains also
have been found. Burial sites show a particular ceramic style,
known as tulip beakers, which seem to have been produced
solely as grave goods. Pigment and palettes also are found, as
is jewelry. Th ese goods indicate a broad trade network, ex-
tending to the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula.
With the advent of the pharaonic period of Egyptian
history (ca. 3000 b.c.e.), the role that pastoralism played in
society can be studied through texts and artwork. Branding
scenes are found, as are scenes of the process of milking and
of aiding cows in the process of calving. Artwork also shows
diff ering breeds of sheep and goats. Before the Middle King-
dom (2040–1640 b.c.e.) sheep were hairy and thin tailed and
had twisted horns. During the Middle Kingdom they became
woollier with a thicker tail. Th e fat-tailed sheep common to
the Mediterranean basin entered the Nile Valley during Ro-
man times. Goats also changed in artistic depiction, as the
breed that had been common throughout the Old Kingdom
(2575–2134 b.c.e.) gave way during the reign of the Hyksos of
the Second Intermediate Period (1640–1532 b.c.e.), evidenced
by horn structure (going from a scimitar-shaped horn to a
twisted shape). Egyptians did not eat pork until the Eigh-
teenth Dynasty (1550–1307 b.c.e.). Large herds of pigs are
mentioned in written sources from this time, and evidence
from middens (refuse heaps) indicates that craft speople con-
sumed pork frequently during this era. Th e use of pork in-
creased with the advent of Roman rule.
Distinguishing pastoralist societies, in which a portion of
the population is engaged in herding during certain seasons,
from mixed farming societies is diffi cult. Typically, seasonal
camps provide evidence of some sort of herding (animal dung788 nomadic and pastoral societies: Egypt