American Geographical Society

The Antiquity of Dairying in Asia and Africa

Author(s): Frederick J. Simoons
Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Jul., 1971), pp. 431-439
Published by: American Geographical Society
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THE ANTIQUITY OF DAIRYING IN ASIA AND AFRICA*
FREDERICKJ. SIMOONS

EDUARD HAHN, writing in the late nineteenth century' and basing his views largely
on archeological and literary remains of the great civilizations of Babylonia and
Assyriawhich datefrom about 1800B.C.andlater,advancedthe hypothesisthatMesopo-
tamia was the place of earliestmilking, that common cattle(Bostaurus)were the first domes-
ticatedanimalsto be milked, and that initiallythey were milkedto provideofferings,intended
to assurecrop fertility, as part of the cult of the lunar mother goddess. Only later, Hahn felt,
did milk come into secularuse and did other animalscome to be milked. Since Hahn's time,
various aspects of his hypothesis have been criticized, but the predominance of scholarly
opinion still holds that the earliestclear evidence of dairying is for Mesopotamia. The pur-
pose of the presentpaperis to weigh the Mesopotamianevidence of dairying and to compare
it with the Africanevidence for Egypt and the Sahara.

THE MESOPOTAMIAN EVIDENCE

There are various statementsthat milk was used or may have been used by Asian peoples
much earlierthan the groups known to Hahn. Some of these statementsare pure speculation,
and some are based on evidence so slight as to render them unacceptableto the careful
scholar.2
If one insistson indisputableproof from the period in question-in writing, in representa-
tions of dairy scenes,or in remainsof dairy productsor of artifactsused in their manufacture
-the earliestAsian evidence of milking is for Mesopotamia.Although domesticatedanimals
appear in a variety of contexts on seals of the Uruk (ca. 3 500-3100 B.C.) andJamdat Nasr (ca.
3100-2900 B.C.) periods, none are depicted as being milked. However, a common art motif
that first occurs about 3200 B.C. deservesmore detailedattention. It concernsyoung animals,
either cattle or sheep, coming out of a hut.3 Also in the scene are adults of the same species,
with the females closest to the young and characteristicallyfacing them. Prominent, too, are
the cult emblems displayedat the hut, which indicatethe scene'sreligious significance.In one
seal (Fig. i) on which the interiorsof the huts are pictured,4there is also the suggestion that
*
Acknowledgment is made to Gene M. Christmanfor the line drawingsthat accompanythis article
and to RichardP. Palmierifor invaluableassistancein research.
I Eduard Hahn: Die Wirtschaftsformender Erde, Petermanns Mitt., Vol. 38, 1892, pp. 8-12; idem:
Demeter und Baubo (Liibeck, 1896), pp. 19-29; idem:Die Haustiereund ihre Beziehungen zur Wirt-
schaft des Menschen(Leipzig, 1896), pp. 77-82.
2
See, for example, Carleton S. Coon: Cave Explorations in Iran, 1949 (Museum Monographs,
Philadelphia,1951, pp. 49-50), writing about Belt Cave, Iran,for level 7 (ca. 5800 B.C.)and later levels;
Kent V. Flannery:The Ecology of Early Food Production in Mesopotamia(Science,Vol. 147, 1965, pp.
1247-1256, reference on p. 1253), about early sites in Kurdistan;andJames Mellaart: Catal Hiiyiik: A
Neolithic Town in Anatolia([London, 1967],pp. 224-25 5), about CatalHiiyiik in Anatolia(ca.6750-5750
B.C.).
3 See P. P. Delougaz: AnimalsEmergingfrom a Hut, Journ.of NearEasternStudies,Vol. 27,1968, pp.
184-197, for an excellent considerationof this artmotif and its meaning.
4 R. W. Hamilton: A Sumerian
Cylinder Seal with Handle in the Ashmolean Museum, Iraq,Vol.
29, 1967, pp. 34-41; referenceon p. 35.
>DR. SIMOONS
is professor of geography at the University of California, Davis.

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432 THE GEOGRAPHICALREVIEW

milkingmay havebeenpracticed.In the hutson thissealtherearehandledpots, standing

erect,thatcouldhavecontainedmilk.In the next period,EarlyDynasticSumerian,which
began about 2900 B.C., some of the basicelementsof the sceneremain,but its focus shiftsfrom
the animals to men milking cows and processing milk (Fig. 2).5 Among the vessels com-
monlyshownin thesemilkingscenesarehandledpotsmuchlikethosein the hutinteriorson
theJamdatNasrseal(Fig. i). One suspectsthatthe earlierhandledpots alsoservedas milk
containers.
Thissuspicionis buttressed by additionalfragments,none of whichtakenalonecan be
as of
accepted proof milking. One is thesealsofJamdatNasrage(forexample,Figure3) that
the of
mayrepresent preparation dairyproducts.6 Anotheristhepictogram,believedto repre-
sentamilkpail,thatappearson claytabletsof lateUruktimes.7Alsonoteworthyarethe po-
rouspots-of UrukandJamdat Nasrage-found in Mesopotamia andneighboringareas;the
pots, it hasbeenclaimed,would have beenideal for curds
separating andwhey.8Thuswhile
it is truethatthe firstindisputable evidenceof milkingor milk use in Mesopotamia is for
EarlyDynastic Sumerian it
times, seems that
probable dairying wasknown somewhat earlier.

THE EGYPTIANEVIDENCE

In Egyptian sites of Badarian age (ca. 4400-4000 B.C.), tall stone vases have been found
that in shaperesemblethe wooden milking pailsin use today by certaintribesofsub-Saharan
Africa. For this reason, it has been postulated9that the Badarianvases either served as milk
containersor were modeled on such containersand that a link exists between the Badarian
vesselsand those of modern Africantribes.The link is seen in the similarlyshapedwooden (?)
milking vessels in a dairy scene depicted on a bronze bowl found in a cemetery of Roman
date (roughly from the first through the fifth centuriesafterChrist)near Karanogin Nubia.
The Karanog milking vessels are identical not only in shape but in decoration with milk
pails used today in Uganda,"?similaritiestoo striking to dismiss lightly. However, the re-
semblancebetween the Badarianand the Karanogvesselsis far more tenuous, and in terms of

5 Other seals of Early Dynastic Sumerianage show goats being milked from behind. Common
cattle arealso depictedon Sumeriansealsas being milked from behind,a position that seemsinappropriate
for them. This has been viewed as evidence that goats and sheep were the earliestdairy animals,and that
common cattle were first milked in imitation of them (FrederickE. Zeuner: A History of Domesticated
Animals [London, 1963], p. 218).
6Edith Porada:MesopotamianArt in Cylinder Sealsof the Pierpont Morgan Library(New York,
1947), p. 18 and Figs. 4 and 5; Edith Porada, edit.: The Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library
(Corpusof AncientNear EasternSealsin North AmericanCollections,Vol. 1), TheBollingenSeriesNo. 14,
Washington, D.C., 1948, pp. 4-5 and Figs. 9-16; BeatriceLauraGoff: Symbols of PrehistoricMesopo-
tamia(New Haven and London, 1963), p. 97 and Figs. 350-352.
7M. E. L. Mallowan: EarlyMesopotamiaand Iran(New York, 1965), pp. 59-60.
8PinhasDelougaz: Pottery from the Diyala Region, OrientalInst.Publ.No. 63, Chicago, 1952, pp.
127-128.
9 Guy Brunton andGertrudeCaton-Thompson:The BadarianCivilisationandPredynasticRemains
near Badari, British School of Archaeology in Egypt and Egyptian ResearchAccount, Thirtieth Year,
1924 (London, 1928), pp. 57-58.
IO C. Leonard Woolley and D. Randall-Maclver: Karanog: The Romano-Nubian Cemetery,

University of Pennsylvania,Egyptian Departmentof the University Museum, Eckley B. Coxe, Junior,

Expedition to Nubia, Vols. 3 and 4 (Philadelphia,1910), Vol. 3, pp. 6o-61; Vol. 4, Plate 27.

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 ANTIQUITY OF DAIRYING 433

FIG. i-Animals emerging from a hut, from a Mesopotamian cylinder seal of Jamdat Nasr age. (After
Hamilton, op. cit. [see text footnote 4].)

I
MW;-v
7

FIG. 2-Milking scene at Al Ubaid, from EarlyDynastic Sumerianperiod.(After H. R. Hall and C. Leonard
Woolley, edits.: Ur Excavations,Vol. i: Al-'Ubaid [London, 1927], P1. 31.)

[I-~~~i~
' 1
'Ii'~~~~~itlllll
m'~
'~ ~A~~-~ l rF'~_,~
~ill!11111111111tli! jfi?/~J
~,[!ili~111111111
1 inl l !
41 rl Illlrrrinrirlllllllliar,i,rr!!,1

FIG. 3-Possible scene of the preparation of dairy products, from a Mesopotamian seal ofJamdat Nasr age.
(After Porada, edit., The Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library [see text footnote 6].)

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434 THE GEOGRAPHICALREVIEW

the strictstandardsof acceptabilitywe haveestablished,one cannotview the Badarianvases

as presentingproofof milking.
Of greatersignificanceis the fattymaterialinjarsfoundby PetrieandQuibell"inside
tombs of Naqadaage (followingca. 4000 B.C.).Chemicalanalysisproducedinconclusive
results,but partlybecausethe fatty materialcontainedvegetablefiber,Petrieand Quibell
thoughtit of vegetableorigin,perhapsfromthe oil palmor the shea-butter tree.Later,the
chemistsChapmanandPlenderleith,12who analyzedfatsof similarappearance fromtombs
of muchlaterdate,raiseddoubtsthatthe Naqadafatwasof vegetableorigin.Morerecently
still,ZakyandIskander,I3 basingtheirviews on the resultsof chemicalanalysisof the ashes
of theNaqadafat,arguedthatit probablywasbutterfat.
The firstconclusiveproofof milkingin Egypt,however,is fromthe tomb of Hor-aha,
second king of the FirstDynasty (ca.3200-2900 B.C.). Funerarypots in that tomb were found
to containmaterialthatchemicalanalysisstronglysuggestedwas oncecheese;confirmation
was obtainedfromhieroglyphicinscriptions on the pots,whichwere interpreted to mean
Thus
"cheese."'4 we have evidence thatmilking practiced Egypt early or even
was in as as,
earlierthan,in Mesopotamia. In bothplacesourearliestconclusiveevidenceis not simplyof
milking,butof thepreparation of milkintobutteror cheese.Hencewe arenot dealingwith
thetimeof earliestmilking,sinceit musthavetakentimeto developthetechnologyto make
thesemilkproducts.
EVIDENCE FROM THE EARLY SAHARA

Scatteredacrossthe arid sections of northernAfrica are magnificent drawings, many of

them polychrome, on rocks. Most of the drawings date from prehistoricperiods when the
Saharaenjoyed significantly greater rainfall than today. The rains brought to the Sahara
conditions that made possible the existence of wild fauna, such as giraffe, elephant, and
rhinoceros,which are now found in Africa only in the more humid savannasfar to the south.
Wild animalsand the humanswho preyed on them areprominentamong the rock drawings;
the huntersare presumedto have been members of primitive hunting and gathering groups
who were able to survive quite well in places that today are barrenwastes. Also prominent
in some of the drawingsare herdsmenand their domesticatedanimals,especiallycattle. If the
reconstructionsof art historians,archeologists,and other prehistoriansare correct,the herds-
men were members of pastoralgroups who from perhaps5500 to 2000 B.C. lived in an area
that extended from the western and central Saharato southernEgypt and the Sudan, and,
perhapssomewhat later, to Ethiopia and Somalia.'5

II W. M. FlindersPetrie andJ. E. Quibell: Naqada and Ballas, 1895(BritishSchool of Archaeology

in Egypt, Publ. No. 1, London, 1896), pp. 39-40.
"2 A. Chaston Chapman and H. J. Plenderleith:Examination of an Ancient Egyptian (Tut-ankh-

Amen) Cosmetic,Journ.of the ChemicalSociety,Vol. 129, Pt. 2, 1926, pp. 2614-2619; referenceon pp.
2615-2616. See also AlexanderScott: Notes on Objectsfrom the Tomb of King Tut-ankh-Amen,in The
Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen (by Howard Carter; 3 vols.; London, 1923-1933), Vol. 2, pp. 197-213;
referenceon pp. 206-210.
13Ahmed Zaky and Zaky Iskander:Ancient Egyptian Cheese, Annalesdu ServicedesAntiquitesde
l'Egypte,Vol. 41, 1942, pp. 295-313; referenceon pp. 312-313.
I4 1bid.,pp. 306-308 and 313.
'5 Hans Rhotert: LibyscheFelsbilder(Darmstadt,1952), pp. 118-119; J. Desmond Clark: The Pre-
historicCulturesof the Horn of Africa (Cambridge,Eng., 1954), pp. 312-315; KennethHoward Honea:

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 ANTIQUITY OF DAIRYING 435
The originandfateof the Saharan remainobscure.It is not knownwhether
pastoralists
theirancestors
domesticated cattleanddevelopedtheirformof economyinAfrica,orwhether
theymigratedfromAsiaalreadyin possession of a pastoralway of life.If they migratedfrom
Asiaaspastoralists,
one likelyrouteis by way of the SinaiPeninsula, thoughsomescholars'6
haveassumedthatthey enterednortheastern Africaby crossingthe Red Seafromsouthern
Arabia.Supportforthisassumption is claimedin thepresent-day occurrence of certainlittle-
knowncattlepastoralists
in southernArabia,who areviewedaspossibleremnants of pastoral-
istsoncewidespreadthere.Theseassumptions, however, are not generallyaccepted.
Whatevertheiroriginsmayhavebeen,with the decreasein precipitation followingca.
2500 B.C. some Saharanpastoralistsare believed to have migrated southward. Clark has
arguedthatonlywith the desiccation
of the Saharadid the cattlepastoralists
entertheHorn,
most likely sometime after 2000 B.C.'7 Suggestions and argumentshave been advancedthat
the Fulaniof West Africaandvariouscattletribesof Eastand SouthAfrica'8may be their
descendants.
A Contribution to the History of the Hamitic Peoples of Africa, ActaEthnologicaet Linguistica,No. 5,
1958,pp. 37-42; KarlWilhelm Butzer: Studienzum vor- und friihgeschichtlichenLandschaftswandelder
Sahara,Abhandl.derAkad.der Wiss. undderLiteraturin Mainz, Math.-Naturwiss. Klasse, 1958, No. 1, pp.
44-46; idem: Environment and Archeology (Chicago, 1964), pp. 453-455; Henri Lhote: The Fertile
Sahara:Men, Animals and Art of a Lost World, in VanishedCivilizationsof the Ancient World (edited
by EdwardBacon; New York, 1963), pp. 11-32, referenceon pp. 30-31; FabrizioMori: Some Aspectsof
the Rock-Art of the Acacus (Fezzan Sahara)and Data Regarding It, in PrehistoricArt of the Western
Mediterraneanand the Sahara(edited by Luis Pericot Garcia and EduardoRipoll-Perello),VikingFund
Pubis.in AnthropologyNo. 39, New York, 1964, pp. 225-251, referenceon pp. 247-250; idem:Tadrart
Acacus: Arte rupestree culturedel Saharapreistorico(Turin, 1965), pp. 233-241; Henri Lhote: L'Evo-
lution de la faune dans les gravureset les peinturesrupestresdu Saharaet ses relationsavec l'evolution
climatique,in Miscelaneaen homenajeal abateHenri Breuil(editedbyE. Ripoll-Perello;2 vols.; Barcelona,
1964-1965), Vol. 2, pp. 83-118, referenceon pp. 101-103;J. Desmond Clark: The Problem of Neolithic
Culture in SubsaharanAfrica, in Background to Evolution in Africa (edited by Walter W. Bishop and
J. Desmond Clark; Chicago and London, 1967), pp. 601-627, referenceon pp. 603-606; FrancisAnfray:
Aspectsde l'archeologieethiopienne,Journ.of AfricanHistory,Vol. 9, 1968, pp. 345-366, referenceon pp.
349-350.
I6 See, for example, Rhotert, loc. cit. [see footnote 15 above]; Honea, op. cit.[seefootnote 15
above],
PP. 76-79.
17J. Desmond Clark:The Spreadof Food Productionin Sub-SaharanAfrica,Journ.ofAfricanHistory,
Vol. 3, 1962, pp. 211-228, referenceon pp. 216-218; idem:A Record of EarlyAgricultureand Metallurgy
in Africa from ArchaeologicalSources, in ReconstructingAfrican Culture History (edited by Creighton
Gabel and Norman R. Bennett), BostonUniversityAfricanResearchStudies,No. 8, Boston, 1967, pp. 1-24,
referenceon p. 14. Anfray (loc.cit. [see footnote 15 above]) feels, however, that the firstEthiopian paint-
ings are a bit earlier,from the third millennium before Christ.
x8 Some who hold that the Fulaniare of Saharanpastoralistdescent are Henri Lhote cited in Henri
Breuil: Les roches peintes du Tassili-n-Ajjer,in Pan African Congress on Prehistory, Acts of the 2nd
Session, Algiers, 1952 (Paris, 1955), pp. 65-219, reference on p. 140; Henri Lhote: The Searchfor the
Tassili Frescoes(New York, 1959), pp. 65-66; A. C. Blanc: Sur le facteurfondamentaldes mouvements
des cultures pre- et protohistoriquesen Afrique du Nord: la fuite du desert, in PrehistoricArt of the
Western Mediterraneanand the Sahara[see footnote 15 above], pp. 179-182, referenceon pp. 181 and
183; FabrizioMori: Some Aspectsof the Rock-Art of the Acacus(FezzanSahara)and Data RegardingIt
[see footnote 15 above], p. 243; idem:Contributionsto the Study of the PrehistoricPastoralPeoples of
the Sahara:Chronological Data from the Excavationsin the Acacus, in Miscelaneaen
homenaje al abate
Henri Breuil [see footnote 15 above], Vol. 2, pp, 173-179, referenceon p. 177; A. Hampate Ba and G.
Dieterlen: Les fresques d'epoque bovidienne du Tassili n'Ajjer et les traditions des Peul: hypotheses

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 436 THE GEOGRAPHICALREVIEW

FIG.4-The partof a Saharanpastoralsceneshowing milking, Acacus,Fezzan.(AfterMori, TadrartAcacus

[seetext footnote 15], and Forni,op. cit. [seetext footnote 20].)

FIG.5-Possible pastoralistmilking scene,Tassili-n-Ajjer,AlgerianSahara.(After Frobenius,op. cit.[see

text footnote 19].)

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 ANTIQUITY OF DAIRYING 437
Certain scholarshave long held that the Saharanpastoralistswere milk-using peoples.'9
One basisfor this view is the conspicuousnessand the position of the cows' uddersin certain
of the rock drawings; the presumptionis that the artists'way of depicting the uddersreflects
the importance of cows' milk in the human diet. Another basis is the occurrence, in some
drawings,of pots or skinsthat may have been used to hold milk or to processit. The evidence,
however, is not conclusive. Therefore we were understandablyexcited when our search of
the published drawings finally uncovered strong evidence of milking in a scene (Fig. 4)
discovered by Mori in the Acacus, Fezzan Sahara,Libya. In this drawing, which has been
describedseparatelyby Mori and by Forni,20not only are there some cows with largeudders
(not shown in Fig. 4), but a person is apparentlymilking one cow into a vessel (pot?); other
vessels are also depicted, mostly next to an enclosure. Behind the cow stands a calf, whose
presence,then as generallyin modem Africa,may have been requiredin order that its mother
give milk. Mori did not comment on two individualsin the scene who face each other with
their handsextended; one is standingand the other is crouched. Fori thinks these are simply
two individualswho are arguing. Although it is not clearly outlined in the publishedrepre-
sentation, there is a hint of something between these individuals,and we raise the question
whether they are making butterby rocking a pot, in the mannerstill found in Africa today.
Mori's Acacus scene is the only published one we have seen from the SaharaPastoral
Period that cannot readily be questioned. However, at least two other published scenes are
suggestive of milking. One, which is quite fragmentary,was found in Tassili-n-Ajjerin the
Algerian Saharaby Frobenius(Fig. 5).21It depictsa cow-like animalwithout visible udder but
with a pot (?) on the ground beneath its body. Nearby are two similar vessels and the in-
complete figures of three human beings; none of the figures, however, is in a position close
enough to have been milking the animal. The second scene (Fig. 6), found by Lhote in
Tassili,22shows a human figure crouchedbehind a cow; his handsareextended toward where
the cow's udder, which is not depicted, would be. Nor is a pot visible beneath the animal,
though nearbythere is an enclosureor hut in which arepots of variousshapes,togetherwith a
reclining man and child. Although this may indeed be a milking scene, as Lhote claims, the
human figure may insteadbe assistingat the birth of a calf (the cow looks pregnant). Or he
may be blowing up the uterus,which then, as in present-dayAfrica, may have been done to

d'interpretation,Journ.de la SocietedesAfricanistes,Vol. 36, 1966, pp. 141-157. Proponentsof Saharan

pastoralistdescentfor variousEastAfricanand South Africanpeoples includeHonea, op. cit. [seefootnote
15 above], pp. 79-80; and Mori, Contributionsto the Study of the PrehistoricPastoralPeoples of the
Sahara[see above], p. 177.
I9 W. B. Kennedy Shaw: Rock Paintingsin the LibyanDesert,Antiquity,Vol. 10, 1936, pp. 175-178,
referenceon p. 176; Leo Frobeniusand Douglas C. Fox: PrehistoricRock Picturesin Europe and Africa
(New York and London, 1937), p. 42; Hans A. Winkler: Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt (2
vols.; London, 1938-1939),Vol. 1, pp. 2o and 29; Vol. 2, pp. 22, 23, and 25; Leo Frobenius:Die Afrikan-
ischen Felsbilder(3 vols.; Graz, 1962-1965), Vol. 2, p. 65; G. Esperandieu:Domestication et elevage dans
le nord de l'Afriqueau neolithique et dans la protohistoried'apresles figurationsrupestres,in PanAfrican
Congress on Prehistory[see footnote 18 above], pp. 551-573, referenceon p. 554.
20
Mori, TadrartAcacus[seefootnote 15 above], pp. 139 and 19o, Plate 105. GaetanoForni: Genesie
sviluppo dell'economia pastorale nel Saharapreistorico, Economiae Storia, Vol. lo, 1963, pp. 48-59;
referenceon pp. 57-58.
21 Frobenius,
op. cit. [see footnote 19 above], Table 84b.
22
Lhote, The Searchfor the Tassili Frescoes[see footnote 18 above], p. 229 and Plate 55.

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438 THE GEOGRAPHICALREVIEW

ri
FIG.6-Another possiblepastoralistmilking scene, Tassili-n-Ajjer.(After Lhote,The Searchfor the
Tassili Frescoes[see text footnote 18].)

encouragea cow to give milk. If so, the scenedepicts a preliminaryto milking, but not milk-
ing itself.Elsewhere,23Lhote mentioned what I thought was anothermilking scene in Tassili,
and in responseto a query on my part he confirms the existence of other milking scenes in
Tassilipaintings,copies of which have not yet been published.24
The above data show that the Saharanpastoralists,or at least certain of them, practiced
milking. Unfortunately,we cannot be surejust when they took up the practice,becausethere
are too many doubts about dating. Lhote, who believes that the PastoralPeriod lasted from
4000 to 2000 B.C., thinks that the Tassilimilking scenesbelong to the middle PastoralPeriod.
Mori25believes that the Acacus milking scene also is from the middle PastoralPeriod, which
he puts in the fourth millennium before Christ.This is presumablyearlierthan Lhote would
date it. Thus, if Mori's estimatesare correct, we have clear evidence of milking at some time
between 4000 and 3000 B.C.This may well be the earliestclearevidence of milking uncovered
anywhere, earliereven than that for Egypt and Mesopotamia. Moreover, as Lhote notes,26
one cannot ignore the representationsof cows with large udders.The possibilityis that milk-
ing goes back to even more remote times in the Sahara,long before the middle Pastoral
Period.

For Mesopotamia, the first clear evidence of dairying is for Early Dynastic Sumerian
times (ca.2900 B.C.), though it is probablethat dairying was practicedin late Uruk times (ca.
3200-3100 B.C.). For Egypt, the earliestcertainevidence of dairying is for the second king of

23 Lhote, The Fertile Sahara[see footnote 15 above], p. 31.

24Personalcommunication, February20, 1971. GerardBailloud (personalcommunication,February
8, 1970) observeda milking scene in the Ennedi(Chad), at GaorahallaganaIV, which he assignsto late in
the firstmillenniumbefore Christ.This was the only milking scene he encounteredthere in a year, during
which he viewed some 500 sites with paintings.But in a survey of rock paintingsin the Harar-Diredawa
areaof Ethiopia, he found no milking scene.
25 Personalcommunication,
January 19, 1970.
26 Personal
communication, February20, 1970.

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 ANIIQUITY OF DAIRYING 439

the First Dynasty (ca. 3100 B.C.), though, again, it is probable that it was practicedearlier,
perhapsin Naqada times (following ca.4000 B.C.). For the Sahara,the earliestcertainevidence
of dairying is for the middle PastoralPeriod (perhaps4000 to 3000 B.C.), though here too it is
possible that the practice is far older, possibly as early as ca. 5500 B.C. Although there are
questions about dating, the evidence does not support the view that dairying was older in
Mesopotamia. On the contrary, the practiceseems to have been of comparableantiquity in
Egypt, if not a bit earlierthere, and it seemsto have been earlierstill in the SaharaDesert. This
brief surveyleavesthe ultimateorigins of dairyingan unresolvedmystery, but it does demon-
stratethat we must resistthe tendency to overlook contraryevidence, which perhapsderives
from a persistentif unconscious influence from Genesis that leads us to seek origins in a
MesopotamianGardenof Eden.

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