For a Tin Ingot: The Archaeology of Oral Interpretation

Marzena Chrobak

Titles

Abstract

This paper, based on research conducted by the pioneers of the history of
oral interpreting (A. Hermann, I. Kurz) in the 1950s and on modern archaeological
evidence, presents the earliest references to interpreters in the Bronze Age, in the Near
East and the Mediterranean area (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, Carthage). It discusses
a Sumerian Early Dynastic List, a Sumerian-Eblaic glossary from Ebla, the Shu-ilishu’s
Cylinder Seal, the inscriptions and reliefs from the Tombs of the Princes of Elephantine
and of Horemheb, the mention of one-third of a mina of tin dispensed at Ugarit to the
interpreter of Minoan merchants and the Hanno’s stele, as well as terms used by these
early civilisations to denote an interpreter: eme-bal, targumannu, jmy-r(A) aw, and mls.

Keywords

interpreting, archaeology, archaeological evidence, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, Carthage, Bronze Age, Near East

References

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Information: Przekładaniec, Issues in English, Special Issue 2013 – Selection from the Archives, pp. 87 - 101

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/16891864ePC.13.039.1456

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

For a Tin Ingot: The Archaeology of Oral Interpretation

English:

For a Tin Ingot: The Archaeology of Oral Interpretation

Authors

Marzena Chrobak

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1386-9859

Institute of Romance Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
Poland

Published at: 05.11.2013

Article status: Open

Licence: None

Percentage share of authors:

Marzena Chrobak (Author) - 100%

Magdalena Buchta (Translator) - 0%

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English

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