The Nomadic Alternative – Page 83

Ib'n Khaldun thought nomads to be nearer the first state than settled peoples. But pure nomadism is not a step towards settled civilization. It is a step away from it. Abraham quit the city of Ur to become a nomad. Nomadism is alternative to civilization. The nomad revolts against the tentacles of the city and like all revolutionaries he is ambivalent towards the target of his revolt. He may imagine he rides free, but his past conditions him to a course he shares with his settled rival. The nomad 'wanders for gain', full-bloodedly committed to increased growth and shamelessly materialistic.

He increases his livestock, increases his seed, and for added security increases his portable gold. "The soul of them", says Doughty, "is greedy first of their proper subsistence and then of their proper [illegible] increase. Though Israel is scattered among the most polite nations, who has not noticed this humour in them."

'Fire-bright gold' is a nomad passion. "For they had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites", says a line in the Book of Judges. Anglo-Saxon poets praised the glitter of gold and the golden ornaments of the Scythians or the Viking 'nomads of the sea' seethe with snapping monsters that seem possessed of some alien demonic energy. The northern nomad equates gold with the power of the life-giving sun, but in the bad lands of the Sahara the sun sucks all life away. There the Touareg cherish the lunar gleam of silver.

Each family of nomads owns its own stock, but does not use it simply to feed and clothe itself. Throughout the pastoral milieu, animals are the principle medium of exchange through which all social transactions are arranged. Brides are bought, pasture disputes settled and blood feuds paid off. Thus a man, rich in herds, may well get away with murder. Once a family herd drops below a viable level, the owners face the hateful ignominy of manual work in a settlement.