For the vast majority of Somali history, a massive body of cultural heritage was preserved only orally. It was not that Somali society had never developed writing; archeological work has uncovered ancient stone inscriptions spanning thousands of years. The written word was just not a popular invention, seemingly ill-suited for a historically nomadic people. Thus countless thousands of stories, songs, and poems were passed down orally across centuries, often verbatim, and never written down. Poetry was especially culturally important. After visiting the area that would become Somaliland, Richard Francis Burton…
