Description: The ancient Near East is not only where the world's earliest writing system, Babylonian cuneiform, was invented some 5,000 years ago, but also where nearly 2,000 years later numerous other scripts developed each to write a specific language. As a framework for the rich intellectual history of this region's ancient past, this book investigates how this "confusion of tongues" came about, how writings in the multiple languages and scripts interacted with each other, and what the consequences were.
Review Quotes: "With his latest book, Before and After Babel, Van De Mieroop homes in on the history of writing, and the result is arguably his most impressive book to date...Van De Mieroop's prose is crisp and easy to follow; his argument is clearly stated and always grounded in concrete case studies. Whether as an intervention in the history of writing-both cuneiform and alphabetic-or as a mine of fascinating case studies, Before and After Babel is sure to reach a wide audience." -- Sophus Helle, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"Marc Van De Mieroop has written a great book on the culture of the written word in the early Middle East. The subject is a fascinating one in its own right, and only gains in interest through the masterful presentation it receives in this monograph." -- Karel van der Toorn, Journal of Near Eastern Studies