Impact Of Pastoral Nomads And Transhumant Herders Essay

The impact that pastoral nomads and transhumant herders can still be seen today. They had a huge impact in Egyptian, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley civilizations. Some of the impacts were things such as culture, agriculture, religion, social classes/hierarchies, gender roles, and specialization of labor. Throughout all of these influences, it is seen that none of these societies were isolated from each other. One way pastoral nomads lived a different lifestyle than transhumant herders was through agriculture. First, agriculture was a big part of the nomad’s lifestyle. The earliest sign of agriculture is in Southwest Asia and was their main form of survival which included planting crops and domesticating animals. Agriculture gave people a regular food supply, and eventually was able to produce surpluses of food (pg.7). Thus, surpluses of food allowed for large populations and for labor specialization. Large populations and labor specialization led to social classes which ranked from highest to lowest was: elites (kings, religious leaders), commoners (craftsmen/farmers), and slaves. As wealth and social standings grew, so did the gender gaps. Women were thought of as being the first to begin the systematic care of plants, while men began to capture animals and domesticating them (pg.7). Transhumant herders lived a much different lifestyle than those of the nomads. The main difference between these two societies is that the herders hunted and gathered their food instead