Tower of Babel

Submitted by Robert (United States), Sep 23, 2022 at 15:03

Thank you "dhimmi no more" (DNM) & M "Tovey." I do not have, or ever had, the patience to learn a foreign language completely, though I spoke Polish, Czech, Yiddish, and Hebrew during my childhood, and studied some French and ancient Greek during my College years. So I appreciate you 2 delving into translation from Hebrew and Arabic which is useful in understanding what Dr. Daniel Pipes calls "Ideology."

That said, I would encourage you both to enlighten us on the "Tower of Babel" narrative in the so-called "Old Testament." I would also like to know if the Quran has anything corresponding to it.

Furthermore, I wonder if what you guys say here "should be taken with a grain of salt." I'm joking, but I observe that DNM made a reference to the word "salt" - so I wonder if there is a connection to this American English idiom ( I didn't yet search my dictionaries regarding its origin.

In addition, we have that all of this is "babel" ( I imagine this is a reference to Babylonia where the Tower of Babel was allegedly located. But we also the English word Barbarian which is of Roman, but ultimately Greek origin: βάρβαρος (barbaros pl. βάρβαροι barbaroi). That makes me imagine of a very close link between the Ancient Hebrews and the Greeks.

I challenge you guys to respond with information about the word "BARBARIAN" in Arabic, Modern, Ancient, Classical, Egyptian, or whatever. In particular, does the Arabic Language(s) view "Babel," "Babylonia," or "Barbarian" in similar ways or origins, etc.? And by the way, this makes the Europeans, as successors to the Ancient Romans, and Israelis and Jews, as successors to the Ancient Hebrews stand out in juxtaposition to the Arabs or Muslims Linguistically, Culturally, or by standards of Civilization, a word Dr. Daniel Pipes does not shy away from using, in spite of the fact that it obviously contradicts Multiculturalists who despise, or hate being called "uncivilized" - I am reminded here of Dr. Daniel Pipe's observation of the origin of the "noble savage" myth (Jean-Jacques Rousseau?) in which humanity was untainted by the stains of Civilization ....

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