Description:
<p>Pastoralism has characterised the Sudan Nile Valley for the last 6,000 years. This paper attempts to analyse the first one thousand years of its development, despite the limited archaeological evidence of pastoral societies. It argues that major social changes were stimulated in the 4th millennium BC by the great diversity between pastoral and agricultural communities inhabiting the different parts of the Nile Valley. In particular, it suggests that pastoralism played a key role in the extraordinary cultural integration that took place in the Nile valley during the centuries immediately before the appearance of a dynastic state in Egypt. Moreover, nomadic pastoral communities are believed to have continued their political interference in Egyptian history, though they are only cursorily mentioned in the celebration of the dynastic state.</p>