Social and Economic Developments in Pre-Islamic Somalia: Introducing African-Arabian-Mediterranean Interaction

[NidarNidar]

WRITTEN BY
Said M. Shidad Hussein
Submitted: 23 February 2023 Reviewed: 27 March 2023 Published: 16 May 2023

Abstract​

Although the history of Somalia is poorly studied, occasional researches show that the nation has a rich, ancient history. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the evolution of Somali society and aspects of their economy throughout circa 3000 BCE–500 CE. During 1960s–1980s, it has been postulated that the Somalis originated from the region of Omo-Tana around 1500 BCE and eventually expanded toward the north until 1400 CE. The chapter reassessed this hypothesis and further used new or less utilized data from linguistic, genetic, archeology, and ancient documentary sources. The integrated data suggest that the ancestral home of the Macro-Somali was the northern part of their Peninsula from about 3000 BCE and in due course, they expanded toward the south and west throughout 1500 BCE–500 CE. The data also explain the nature of their pre-Islamic socioeconomic system and their interaction with the Arabian-Mediterranean region upon which the Greco-Roman geographers of 150 BCE–550 CE elaborated.

the rest can be found in this paper, I highly recommend it.

 

[NidarNidar]

The Proto-Cushitic widely knew the terms for farm, cultivate, and plow. They shared some of them with the Egyptians and in less cases with the Semitics. These Cushitics were had widely been consuming, at one place or another, sorghum, daafi (teff), barley, and wheat with knowledge of processing these cereals into a form of flour, porridge, or bread.4 Although the term Masanga for sorghum was dominant among the Cushitics, it was elsewhere called dar, har, etc. It appears that the Proto-Cushitic domesticated the daafi and were part of the domestication of the sorghum. In calibrated evidence, sorghum was cultivated by 7000 BP in Sahel, a land strip from central Sudan to Senegal ([30], pp. 98–100). By calibrated evidence also, it was grown by 6000 BP near Khartoum in central Sudan [34]. Generally, the use of the names of these four cereals was flexible among the Cushitic, Omotic, Chadic, Egyptian, and Semitic societies. For example, the term sarn or sart was used for wheat, barley, and sorghum by different societies. Interchanging the names of these crops may suggest that they were adopted one after the other within several centuries so when a society experienced an existence of a new product, they gave it a name to which they were already familiar. The eighteen words used here for the agricultural production only ar and har for sorghum were not identified in Somali. In the Eastern Horn, the high-altitude zone of Hargeysa-Harar-Bali is a candidate for early cultivation of daafi, wheat, and barley, and even medieval times for the barley. Since the lexemes for cattle, goat, sheep, and donkey were common among the Cushitic and they were shared by at least two other Afroasiatic branches, it is positive that the Proto-Cushitic were breeding these animals.

 

[NidarNidar]

7. A cultural dimension​

Despite these strong external relations, there are no visible effects of the contacts on Somali society, while, on the other hand, the contacts deeply affected other regions of the Horn such as Northern Ethiopia, Central Eritrea, and the Nile Sudan. Still, the causes of demographic and cultural changes in these regions existed also in Somalia without effects. A sense of self-identity and accompanied religious factors appear to have prevented the Somalis from acceptance of the change. Unlike the founders of Abyssinia, the pre-Islamic Yemeni immigrants were not allowed to influence the Somali identity but they were rather apparently assimilated. An example can be drawn from the case of large Muslim immigrants in Somalia who could not avoid to be immediately Somalized. Ibn Ḥawqal noted in the 960s that there were some Muslim immigrants who were interacting with the natives in eastern Sanaag ([22], pp. 50, 63); and al-Ḥamawi reported large Muslim immigrants in Mogadishu in 1220. But there was no ever other mention of a non-Somali community in the country, although many communities descended from Arab origin. Even those in Mogadishu immediately coalesced into the Somali. After one-century ibn Baṭuṭa, who was their guest in 1330, called them Berber and they were speaking Somali [63]. But what about acceptance of a pre-Islamic religion?
Although the Near East is the home of the divine Religions, the Eastern Cushitic were more Abrahamic than most of the Near-easterners prior to the advent of Islam. The former believed in a monotheistic creed whose God was called Waaq. For the Somalis, Waaq is also called Eebe and both are still Islamic names together with the name “Allah”. When the Somalis were converted to Islam they did not find a big difference between Waaq and Allah and their basic attributes. Waaq is also the creator and controller of the universe, and cherisher of mankind. The literature about Waaq provides that the meaning of the name is “eternal”. The name and its manifestations still vigorously remain in the religious literature. Almost every Somali clan has an ancestor who lived sometime in the Islamic era whose name is X+Waaq, for example, BiddaWaaq, JidWaaq, CaabidWaaq, etc., which means slave of God like Abdallah in Arabic. The Somali names have thus the same meanings as those of the Semitic religious names, such as Gabriel, Israel, and Abdallah. Agaw and Sudanese Cushites did not show that they shared this creed with the East Cushites. This means that one of two things occurred: the non-EC Cushites corrupted the belief in Waaq; or the ancestors of the East Cushites have been converted through the religious legacy of Abraham or Solomon, a period that the Proto-Cushitic separation already took place.11

8. Conclusion​

Pinpointing the birthplace of the Cushites must wait for intensive Afroasiatic linguistic analyses. However, on the basis of linguistics and the distribution and structural techniques of the cairns and rock art, the original homeland of the Somali as a major tribe by the early third millennium BCE must fall on the northern coast of their country. The southernmost corner of their early hinterland could encompass the Nugaal Valley to Harar Plateau. Moving out from that plateau and probably pushing the Proto-Oromo-Konso toward the south, the Bayso-Jiido group settled in Bali during the first millennium BCE. By the middle of the millennium, the Rendille-Madalle group occupied the lower part of the inter-riverine region, that is, the hinterland of Ḥamar coast. Around the end of the millennium, they were on the southern side of Jubba River. They were preceded by the Omo-Baḋ group but were followed by Tunni. The Proto-Mirifle and others replaced the Madalle-Rendille group in the inter-riverine region. The north was left for the Tiirri generation until the ancestors of the current northerners began to rise around 500 CE. Although there were fishing, hunting, and gathering communities throughout that long history, the majority of the society practiced herding and, in less degree, farming livelihoods. International trade at the coast was also effectively developed. This allowed economic choices, which further encouraged political decentralization within relatively well-established sociopolitical institutions.

A fascinating read, I highly recommend it.

 

[Emir of Zayla]

Still, the causes of demographic and cultural changes in these regions existed also in Somalia without effects. A sense of self-identity and accompanied religious factors appear to have prevented the Somalis from acceptance of the change. Unlike the founders of Abyssinia, the pre-Islamic Yemeni immigrants were not allowed to influence the Somali identity but they were rather apparently assimilated. An example can be drawn from the case of large Muslim immigrants in Somalia who could not avoid to be immediately Somalized. Ibn Ḥawqal noted in the 960s that there were some Muslim immigrants who were interacting with the natives in eastern Sanaag ([22], pp. 50, 63); and al-Ḥamawi reported large Muslim immigrants in Mogadishu in 1220.

It’s interesting how sedentary Highlanders got assimilated and conquered genetically/culturally by the Southern Arabians but Eastern Horners with the same amount of contact didnt. We most likely had a stronger culture that didn’t allow for mixing with foreigners like how we do today.

 

[NidarNidar]

It’s interesting how sedentary Highlanders got assimilated and conquered genetically/culturally by the Southern Arabians but Eastern Horners with the same amount of contact didnt. We most likely had a stronger culture that didn’t allow for mixing with foreigners like how we do today.

And those that mixed got assimilated, it seems our forefathers moved around quite a bit.

 

[Emir of Zayla]

And those that mixed got assimilated, it seems our forefathers moved around quite a bit.

I don’t think they cared about our land very much compared to the more fertile highlands. Tho it does confuse me on why the reverse didn’t happen with Cushites migrating to Arabia.

 

[NidarNidar]

I don’t think they cared about our land very much compared to the more fertile highlands. Tho it does confuse me on why the reverse didn’t happen with Cushites migrating to Arabia.

We had the best quality frankincense and myrrh, it's still sold to the Vatican to this day and grown in the same areas, I don't think anyone had any hunger for conquest after the collapse of the bronze age.

"It has been noted that the international trade in Somalia dates back nearly 5000 years ago with different nations participating in that trade at different times. They seemingly or certainly include Arabs, Egyptians, Sumero-Akkadians, Phoenicians, and Israelites, followed by Persians and Indians, and Greeks and Romans. As Heeren has indicated, the type of products of the country, its location, and its trade-oriented culture sustained the popularity of the Somali market. Among these nations, ancient Egypt is seen as the one that made the first and largest involvement. But the evidence is mostly indirect as it is based on the apparent location of the Land of Punt in the Egyptian records."