Some of the earliest evidence for nomadic pastoralism
in the region comes from the central Zagros Mountains (in
modern-day Iran). Archaeological fi nds of temporary camp-
sites in marginal ecological zones unsuitable for agriculture
and of isolated cemeteries along seasonal migratory routes far
from permanent settlements are examples of such evidence.
Moreover, historical texts from early urban centers in the
general vicinity attest to social, economic, and political re-
lations—and sometimes battle—with nomadic groups in the
Zagros by the mid-fourth millennium b.c.e.
Much research has focused on explaining how nomadic
pastoralism emerged as a new way of living out of village-
based herding in the Zagros region. Traditional views on this
subject theorized a direct transition from agropastoralism to
highly mobile nomadic pastoralism. However, recent investi-
gations have demonstrated that the shift occurred in several
intermediate stages before arriving at an economy emphasiz-
ing nomadic pastoralism by the fourth millennium b.c.e. Be-
sides the spread of seasonal camps and isolated cemeteries like
those already mentioned, the archaeological evidence includes
a reduction in the number of permanent settlements and the
broad distribution of small quantities of distinctive pottery at
sites throughout the west-central Zagros, perhaps refl ecting
far-fl ung trade associated with increasing mobility.
Th e archaeological evidence also indicates growing inter-
action between the west-central Zagros and the lowlands to
the west and southwest in the late fi ft h and fourth millennia
b.c.e. As pastoral groups moved down to the lowlands in the
winter months, they would have come into contact with set-
tled farming communities and formed trading relationships.
Archaeologists believe that economic exchange was a signifi -
cant and mutually benefi cial aspect of nomad-villager rela-
tions. Villagers received animal products and raw materials
from the mountains in exchange for agricultural goods that
the nomads lacked owing to their highly specialized economy.
Manufactured items, especially pottery, also would have been
exchanged—as would ideas, styles, and other cultural infor-
mation. Nomadic pastoralists may have served as intermedi-
aries in longer-distance trade connecting diff erent regions.
Th e economic ties forged between highland pastoralists
and settled villagers may have contributed to the develop-
ment of social complexity on a regional scale. During the late
fi ft h and fourth millennia b.c.e. a number of sites in southern
Mesopotamia and southwestern Iran began to exhibit signs
of increasing socioeconomic and political complexity (for ex-
ample, monumental architecture, urban planning, and the use
of seals to regulate certain economic activities) that eventually
led to the rise of early states. Mobile pastoralist populations in
the Zagros may have helped to urbanize their neighbors to the
southwest by, among other things, stimulating local economies
through surplus production and trade. Th e rising urban de-
mand for animal products and raw materials would have en-
couraged pastoralists to intensify production and exchange,
strengthening economic ties between both groups. Th e grow-
ing economic interdependence between nomadic pastoral so-
cieties and early towns may have infl uenced such sociopolitical
developments of the following millennia as the control of pro-
duction and distribution of goods by centralized institutions,
the emergence of inequalities in wealth and status, and the
formation of a shared social identity among nomadic groups.
Meanwhile, the construction of forts along the foothills of the
Zagros by early Mesopotamian state societies indicates that re-
lations with the nomads were not always amicable.
Far southwest of the Zagros, nomadic pastoralism may
have also appeared in the “marginal” environments of the
Negev and Sinai and nearby desert/steppe zones of what are
today Jordan, Syria, western Iraq, and northwestern Saudi
Arabia. However, scholars disagree as to whether prehistoric
nomadic pastoralism could have existed in this region, and
if so, when it began. Some argue that nomadic pastoralism
arose in the mid-seventh millennium b.c.e.; they point to the
spread of new forms of material culture beyond areas favor-
able for intensive agriculture and into marginal zones during
this time. Archaeological evidence of this migration includes
distinctive stone tools, architectural remains such as stone
circles and circle complexes, rock art, and a rise in sheep and
goat herding, possibly in response to the declining numbers
of wild gazelles. Moreover, the growing numbers and size of
sites in desert/steppe areas appear to refl ect close symbiotic
relations between nomadic groups and their settled neigh-
bors in the agricultural zone. Aft er their fi rst incursions into
these marginal lands the nomadic pastoralists spread rapidly
throughout the region over the next few millennia, culminat-
ing in the conquest of southern Mesopotamia by the Akkadi-
ans in the late third millennium b.c.e.
Other researchers doubt that pure nomadic pastoralism
in this region dates to the mid-seventh millennium b.c.e.
Some argue that a nomadic pastoral economy could have
arisen only aft er milk and wool began to be systematically
exploited in the fourth millennium b.c.e. Some suggest that
earlier systems could have been cases of transhumant, rather
than purely nomadic, pastoralism. (However, archaeologists
also diverge in their estimates of when transhumant pasto-
ralism began.) Finally, some scholars question whether these
marginal lands could have sustained a pastoral nomadic sys-
tem in prehistory. In historical times nomadic groups who
migrated into the region from other areas usually shift ed to
other forms of pastoralism to diversify their economy. Ac-
cording to this viewpoint, pure nomadic pastoralism was
possible only aft er dromedaries were domesticated in Arabia
in the late third millennium b.c.e. and spread across the des-
ert environments of the Near East by the early fi rst millen-
nium b.c.e.
Historical texts and archaeological materials from an-
cient Near Eastern empires attest to the presence of nomadic
groups both within and on their borders. When the Romans
began their conquest of the Near East, they faced a long-
established network of interaction and interdependence
among settled and nomad populations. Th ese nomadic
groups practiced diff erent types of mobile pastoralism,790 nomadic and pastoral societies: The Middle East