--- In nostratic@yahoogroups.com, " Alexander Stolbov" <alex@...>
wrote:
John Croft wrote:

> ... They seem to have been the
> first wave of Afro-Asiatic speaking Semites in the Middle East.

From

> 5,600 BCE they formed the very successful Ghassulian culture which
> pioneered the Mediterranean form of agriculture in the region,
> combining grain growing on the valley bottoms, with olive and grape
> growing closer to the settlements, and transhumance pasturage on
> hills and slopes.

Do I understand you right? You mean that Ghassulian culture
represents the
Proto-Semites, the ancestor of _all_ known Semitic tribes? In other
words,
these tribes were so successful in the Bronze Age due to the
Mediterranean
form of agriculture (particularly, using olive for oil and grape wine
as the
main alcoholic drinks)?

Alexander
--- End forwarded message ---