Page 255 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V
P. 255
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