ALFRED HERMANN INTERPRETING IN ANTIQUITY

Translated by Ruth Morris

From the fourth century onwards, we find increasingly clear differentiation between groups of people in the Eastern Mediterranean area. In different places and at different times, highly advanced civilizations came into being, distinguished essentially by their languages in antiquity as. other eras, interlingual behaviour was determined by the specific situation and within it, by individual human decisions. On any particular occasion, there would occur an encounter between two unaquel levels of might, two types of human beings as bearers of dissimilar power.

Ones side's awareness that it possessed the greater power -belonging to the" greater" country and people, or having the higher ethos - must have constituted a temptation, from early on, to view other people as being utterly inferior, and themselves as creation's crowning glory.

I Ancient Egypt Shuster was typically the case in ancient Egypt, where the honorary title of" man/human being" was only bestowed on it's own people, foreign races being considered wretched barbarians. In that self assured world on the Nile, the path led upwards from the" fully human" Egyptian via the different hierarchies of de civil servant and priests, all the way to pharaoh and the supreme deity in heaven.

The inscriptions which record the speeches delivered when foreigner were received at court are not their actual words translated from their own languages. Rather, words were literally put in the months of the foreigners words of entreaty for mercy,as thought out and put into stereotypical forms by the Egyptian. Thus basically, any expression was always that of the Egyptians themselves. Under such circumstances no real communication could take place when it come to talking to foreigners in everyday life, and the interpreter- that indispensable linguist- could not act as a genuine interlingual mediator. Starling at the end of the period of the pyramids, we have knowledge of the title and activity of interpreters from a numbers of cases. Interpreters appear more and more frequently in the inscriptions of Aswan Elephantine, whose provincial ruler often bears the title" oversser of dragomans".

The bilingual border area of the first cataract, the province of Elephantine, was the home not only of the interpreters who mediated between the resident Nubians and Egyptians, but also of most leaders of famed expeditions to Sudan, which were deemed a major challenge. Noteworthy examples include the expeditions of Harkhuf, "Prince of Elephantine, protect of upper Egypt, unique friends of the king. Harkhuf boasts emotionally of his own achievements. Quite how unpacific such campaigns were is shown by the expedition of pepinakht, known as Hekaib, who, as" Prince of Elephantine and Overseer of Dragomans", with his troops defeated two Nubian tribes before going on to become governor of the royal capital of Memphis.

We learn from another man from Aswan called Sabni that his father died while on a trip to Nubia, and that he made another journey to bring the body back. In his account he boasts that he did nod send" any desert guide, interpreter or Nubian" to the difficulty region, instead going himself. Another area in which EgyptIan interpreters appears as commercial negotiators is, typically, the copper- mining region of the Sinai Peninsula, home to speakers of a Semitic language. In an inscriptions about the Sinai expedition of a Temple superintendent during the time of King Neferirka- Re, the accompanying interpreters are listed next to miners and sailors.

Another area in which EgyptIan interpreters appears as commercial negotiators is, typically, the copper- mining region of the Sinai Peninsula, home to speakers of a Semitic language. In an inscriptions about the Sinai expedition of a Temple superintendent during the time of King Neferirka- Re, the accompanying interpreters are listed next to miners and sailors. Interpreters also occur in connection with sailors on one of king Sabu-Re's large seagoin vessels, sailing to Byblos or Punt, as depicted by this pharaoh in his pyramidal templet. At the royal seat of Memphis, interpreters was important not only externally, on Egypt's borders and in foreign countries, but also in the central administration.

The occasional linking of the titles of interpreter and doctor is undoubtedly based on the fact that the doctor spoke to the personified demon of disease as if addressing a wretched foreigner. At the royal seat of Memphis, interpreters was important not only externally, on Egypt's borders and in foreign countries, but also in the central administration. The occasional linking of the titles of interpreter and doctor is undoubtedly based on the fact that the doctor spoke to the personified demon of disease as if addressing a wretched foreigner. The Egyptians did not leave further testimony about this oldest instance of interpreting in the history of the world. However the title of interpreter and the corresponding hieroglyph do provide some additional stop'ayin, would appear onomatopoeically to indicate a foreign language.

The Egyptians did not leave further testimony about this oldest instance of interpreting in the history of the world. However the title of interpreter and the corresponding hieroglyph do provide some additional stop'ayin, would appear onomatopoeically to indicate a foreign language. The interpreter was thought of, rather disparagingly, as" the speaker of stranger tongues". the character used shows an oddly shaped apron with strings which, from ist yellow hue, would appear to be made not of linen, but of coarse sackcloth. This would seem to by the relic of an ancient human form of contact. Roman authors such as Mela, Pliny and Solinus write about the Serians, a legendary Asiatic people, as practicing the" silent trade" also observed between other peoples of marked cultural disparity. This" honest primitive people" exchanged their own products for goods deposited at a secluded location.

While Pliny stresses that the Serians had hoarse vices and no trading language, Eusthatius reports that they indicated prices on sackcloth. what the Romans related about the Serians on the borders of civilization, the Egyptians of the era of the pyramids appear to have experienced at the first Nile Cataract. Their word misinterpreting is presumably an expression for overcoming a lack of linguistic understanding, and their hieroglyph for interpreter, the coarse apron, a reminder of primitive bartering. While this evidence reflects rather simple arrangements rooted in ancient custom the Egyptians also had more sophisticated methods for developing interlingual communication. Herodotus reports that pharaoh Pasammetichus handed over Egyptian boys to Hellenic settlers in the Nile Delta so that they would learn the Greek language. These, he suggests, were the first recruits to what was to become the class of interpreters.

The foreign- language educations of youth, here reported for the period of the first regular Egyptian- Greek relations, appears to have been an old custom in the land of the Nile. Starling in the Middle Kingdom, the sons of Nubian tribal rules were brought together in one location to be educated as a kind of janissary guard. Under Ramses II, young Asiatic underwent similar training in Fayoun. Even if no especific references is made here to lenguage instructions, it goes without saying that it would be necessary to learn the Egyptian, this king had Egyptians acquire a foreign language- a custom which was actually not entirely new. If the Egyptians were making efforts to master a foreign language and script both in the fourteenth century and then again from the seventh century onwards, their reasons for doing so in these two periods were nonetheless very different.

If the Egyptians were making efforts to master a foreign language and script both in the fourteenth century and then again from the seventh century onwards, their reasons for doing so in these two periods were nonetheless very different. II Greece/ Rome For the Greeks, the term" interpreter" or" translator" meant "a person who acts like Hermes", a human being who performs one of this god's numerous activities (including linguistic ones) . while the Greek concept emphasizes the divine and, to a lesser extent, the intellectually character, the Latin equivalent defines the down-to-earth situations of the person interpretating.

II Greece/ Rome For the Greeks, the term" interpreter" or" translator" meant "a person who acts like Hermes", a human being who performs one of this god's numerous activities (including linguistic ones) . while the Greek concept emphasizes the divine and, to a lesser extent, the intellectually character, the Latin equivalent defines the down-to-earth situations of the person interpretating. Irrespectve of whether the word "interpress" is derived from "inter-partes" or" inter-pretium" the term designates the human mediator positioned between two parties or values, performing far more diverse activities than simply providing linguistic mediation between parties transacting business. The basically divide character of the hermeneus/ interprets is founded on inspiration. When it came to practical interpreting in interlingual communication in ancient times, the language problem varied.

While the Greeks were in every way on a par with the Egyptians in terms of arrogance over the barbarians, considering their language to be the only one worthy of human beings from early colonization all the way up to Hellenism, the Roman Empire was mostly a bilingual state Utriusque languae, utriusque orationis facultate, I.e. having a mastery of Greek was one of the requirements of the educated Roman from the late republic onwards. Generally speaking, matters were quite different among the Greeks. If at all, they studied Latin only for work in the administration of justice and government. Thus, for the individual Roman it was normally not difficulty to communicate with Greeks, while the Greeks, for their part, almonst always had to rely on interpreters.

III The Christian late classical periodGoing beyond the traditional views of Hermeneus and the prophet, the first Christian scholar, Clemens of Alexandria, declared that god had no need of an interpreter in order to express His will. More than theoretical considerations, what proved significant to Christianity was the practical example of interpreting and translating in the synagogue. Since Ezra made arrangements for the Torah to be rendered from the Hebrew text into Aramaic (the vernacular of the time) for the Jewish homecomers from exile, “targumim” came into being in the Holy Land. Initially they were not to be recorded, so that as spoken translations they would maintain their vitality. The language problem of the synagogue applied to Jesus preaching too. When he expounded “Moses and the prophets” to the disciples, he could only have explained the Hebrew written text in Aramaic.

The language problem of the synagogue applied to Jesus preaching too. When he expounded “Moses and the prophets” to the disciples, he could only have explained the Hebrew written text in Aramaic. Mark, the so-called “interpreter of peter,” thus produced a free translation by recording in writing a rendering of the Lord’s words as he heard them from Peter’s mouth, writing down in Greek what he had heard in Aramaic. Even after the Judaeo- Christians had left the synagogues, the problem of language in religious service cropped up time and time again. Greek became the church’s language of worship, but from the third century on was increasingly incomprehensible to worshippers, and so the question arose as to whether it was possible to manage with similar “targumim,” or whether a major change of language was required.

Even after the Judaeo- Christians had left the synagogues, the problem of language in religious service cropped up time and time again. Greek became the church’s language of worship, but from the third century on was increasingly incomprehensible to worshippers, and so the question arose as to whether it was possible to manage with similar “targumim,” or whether a major change of language was required. Even after Latin generally became accepted as the ecclesiastical language of worship, some parts of the liturgy nevertheless remained in their Greek version, such as the “Hagios” in Gaul. Given the limits of the Roman Empire’s Latinization in the area of worship as in daily life, the Roman Christians, like the Coptic, Syrian, Celtic and Germanic communities, sooner or later insisted that services be made accessible to them in their own language.

Before the occurrence of drastic language changes, such as the one carried out in Rome under Pope Damasus I, linguistic mediators were required at religious services. Evidence of their existence is available in both the East and the West. Epiphanius, listing the various ranks in the church hierarchy, refers to the “exorcists and interpreters from one to the (other) language,” sandwiched between lectors and undertakers. Their rank was, therefore, rather low. According to the Acts of the martyrs St Prokop of Scythopolis, the latter’s ascetic existence culminated in the activities of lector, exorcist and liturgical interpreter; the renunciation of glory and honours is thus a characteristic of the Christian rank of linguistic mediator. Similar to liturgical arrangements, the person versed in languages gained in importance when it came to spreading the faith among the heathen.

According to apocryphal reports, which at least reflect the variety of possibilities, Apostle Thomas is said to have missionized among the Parthians, and Apostle Andreas among the Scythians, which presupposes that they overcame the attended language problems. Writing about Johannes Chrysostomus, Theodoret reports that he appointed priests, deacons and lectors of the holy scriptures who spoke the language of the Aryan Scythians, i.e. the Goths. “Frequently he preached himself with the help of interpreters, who had mastery of both languages” and had others act accordingly. At the official gatherings of the church leaders, the major councils, the use of Latin was limited, because these synods were initially held in the Greek- speaking part of the world, and the few guests from the West normally had a good command of the Greek language, in which negotiations were conducted.

On the other hand, older fragments of council proceedings manuscripts more strongly suggest occasional negotiations in Latin than was previously assumed on the basis of the late Greek copies which obliterated Latin drafts. In the East, after Justinian, discussions were held exclusively in Greek, and the records were issued in Greek.

1.- In an ancient curse to ward off disease, the demons of disease are addressed as “Asiatic,” “Negro,” “slave,” etc.

2.- On the title of “interpreter,” see A. H. Gardiner, “The Egyptian Word for ‘Dragoman’,” Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeology 37 (1915): 117-25 […] A. Wiedemann found the translation “interpreter” questionable (according to oral sources, including more recent ones such as Labib Habachi and Henry G. Fischer).

3.- The Book of Daniel 1. 3-5 reports on the teaching of the Chaldean language to imprisoned Jewish youths at the court of Nebuchadnezar.

NOTES