Page 255 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V
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2032 berkshire encyclopedia of world history





                 War/Drought: Peace/Milk

                 For all of human existence people have been depend-  ABAAR, NABAD IYO CAANO:  “war and drought,
                 ent on ample supplies of water to have enough wild  peace and milk,” milk here being synonymous with
                 foods, grow plants, and raise animals. Drought is a  rain, a further extension of the metaphor. Inter-clan
                 threat to their very existence. The Somali of northeast  strife may easily result from different families, REERs,
                 Africa equate drought with everything bad and rain  arriving at a well at the same time during a drought.
                 with everything good.                           If immediate action is not taken, war may result.The
                                                                 opposite is true during a year of plenty. A further
                 At this point, let me add a word on the meaning of
                                                                 extension of the metaphor is, with drought and war,
                 “evil” and “good.” What are the evils and the virtues
                                                                 disease, CUDUR; with rain and peace, health, CAAFI-
                 we talk about in connection with the days and the
                                                                 MAD. Also accompanying rain are enjoyment,
                 year? By “evil” I mean drought, for drought is said to
                                                                 RAHHO, marriage, worshipping, education, etc.Thus
                 be the source of all evil.The source of all virtue, then,
                                                                 the metaphor of drought and rain is extended to all
                 is rain. From this pastoral base, the metaphors can be
                                                                 aspects of the nomadic way of life.
                 expanded. Drought, ABAAR, is said to be accompa-
                                                                 Source: Galaal, M. (1968). The terminology and practice of Somali weather lore, astron-
                 nied by war, COL; rain is accompanied by peace,  omy, and astrology (p. 11). Mogadishu, Somalia: Author.
                 NABAD. Hence one hears the saying, COL IYO



              During the Neolithic Age, hunters and gatherers   “drought farming.” The winter rains provided enough
            stopped migrating, built permanent dwellings, and   water that farmers could successfully grow crops with
            became farmers and herdsmen. When they chose a site  minor modifications to their schedule.They would plant
            to build their towns it was usually near an available water  their crops in the early spring while the soil was still well
            source, such as a river or lake. One of the oldest towns,  watered from the winter rains and harvest them in the
            Catalhuyuk in Turkey, serves as a model for these early  early summer before all the moisture was lost from the
            Neolithic sites. This site, which was established around  soil due to the warm and arid summer weather patterns.
            7500 BCE, was located very close to several standing bod-  Inhabitants in these regions relied on natural springs and
            ies of water and archaeologists believe there was avail-  rainwater collected in large cisterns to ensure an adequate
            able water near the town all year. Its farmlands appear  drinking water supply for the summer and fall months.
            to be several kilometers farther away from the town than  In Arabia, the Nabataeans used a system of rock cut
            the water supply, underscoring the importance of easy  channels and pipes to collect rainwater for storage in
            access to water. This model can also be seen at other  underground cisterns, which were lined with waterproof
            Neolithic sites, like Choirokoitia in Cyprus, which dates  cement. In Egypt, the culture developed close to the
            to 7000 BCE.                                        banks of the Nile River.The Nile provided water for irri-
              As the population steadily increased during the period  gating  fields and the annual  flooding of the river
            from the Neolithic  Age to the Iron  Age, settlements  deposited new soil on the fields and prevented soil deple-
            began appearing in areas where water was not readily  tion. In the Hellenistic Age, an elaborate system of irri-
            available in large quantities or was not available through-  gation ditches was implemented to expand the amount
            out the year.To survive in these regions, humans had to  of cultivable land. This irrigation system continued to
            find ways to adapt their survival strategy to provide  develop and expand through the Roman, Byzantine, and
            enough water to sustain life. One of the most widely prac-  Islamic periods.
            ticed solutions was to collect water during times when it  In ancient Persia farmers developed the underground
            was plentiful for use at a later time when it was scarce.  irrigation systems known as qanats as early as the first
            Different cultures found various ways to accomplish this.  millennium BCE as a method for delivering needed water
            In Greece, Italy, and Mesopotamia the farmers relied on  to their crops. A qanat was an underground enclosed
            winter rains to provide enough rainfall to allow summer  canal that collected groundwater in the mountains and
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