Before Babel : in memoriam Daniel Simeoni and Brian Peckham

incl. ref.

The biblical story of Babel has long reserved as a powerful image for translators in western civilization, stimulating much productive discourse about translation history, mythology, theory and practice. It is therefore interesting to note that the biblical story itself, despite its apparent antoquity and remarkable brevity, has been strongly influenced by even earlier sources stemming from societies antedating its ancient Israelite authors. The article examines some of the most interesting examples of cross-cultural and intertextual references from ancient proverbs and writings including well-know works such as the Gilgamesh epic and the Babylonian creation epic, Enuma Elis.The delightfully subtle translingual wordplay in the name "Babel" is also clarified. The biblical tower of babel reveals a starling complexity resulting from the wealth of intercultural and multilingual contacts that constitute the distant foundation of western tradition.