Language Dispersion
I've been reflecting on the Tower of Babel and the dispersion of language. I checked out the dates of some of the oldest languages and made a table to see what I might find. It's interesting to me that Sumerian, a very curious an ancient language, seems to have enjoyed its golden age up until the time that is estimated for the Tower of Babel. Was Sumerian cuneiform the writing system of people before the Flood? It's even more interesting in light of the Sumerian King List which notes the rule of ancient kings before and after the Flood. Also, the text Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, composed around the 21st century BC and recording the Sumerian legend of the confusion of languages.
According to Blue Letter Bible's A Chronological Map from the Creation to the Fourth Century A.D., it shows the Tower of Babel somewhere around the 23rd century BC. Answers in Genesis gives a date of 2242 BC.
Wikipedia's articles on Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian. Also, Ancient Near East - Periodization
YearsSumerianAkkadianEgyptianOther languagesEvents
Before 26th
century BCArchaic Sumerian-Archaic Egyptian-Creation
26th-23rd
century BCOld or Classical SumerianOld Akkadian
(2500-1950 BC)Old Egyptian
(2600 - 2000 BC)-Flood
Tower of Babel is estimated to be around 2300-2200 BC
23rd-21st
century BCNeo-SumerianOld Akkadian
(2500-1950 BC)Old Egyptian
(2600 - 2000 BC)-Dispersion of
the Nations
20th-14th
century BCLate SumerianOld Babylonian/Assyrian
(1950-1530 BC)Middle Egyptian
(2000 - 1350 BC)Minoan (Linear A and B),
Phoenician,
Mycenaean Greek,
HittitePatriarchs,
Exodus
14th-10th
century BC-Middle Babylonian/Assyrian
(1530-1000 BC)Late Egyptian
(1350 - 700 BC)Biblical Hebrew,
Aramaic,
Old ChineseJudges
10th-7th
century BC-Neo-Babylonian/Assyrian
(1000-600 BC)Late Egyptian
(1350 - 700 BC)Classical Greek,
Old LatinIsrael's United
and Divided Kingdoms
7th century BC
to AD-Late Babylonian
(600 BC - 100 AD)Demotic
(700 BC - AD 400)Old Persian,
Koine Greek,
Classical LatinExile and Return
of Israel
2 Peter 3 verses 5-6 - "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water."
According to Blue Letter Bible's A Chronological Map from the Creation to the Fourth Century A.D., it shows the Tower of Babel somewhere around the 23rd century BC. Answers in Genesis gives a date of 2242 BC.
Wikipedia's articles on Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian. Also, Ancient Near East - Periodization
YearsSumerianAkkadianEgyptianOther languagesEvents
Before 26th
century BCArchaic Sumerian-Archaic Egyptian-Creation
26th-23rd
century BCOld or Classical SumerianOld Akkadian
(2500-1950 BC)Old Egyptian
(2600 - 2000 BC)-Flood
Tower of Babel is estimated to be around 2300-2200 BC
23rd-21st
century BCNeo-SumerianOld Akkadian
(2500-1950 BC)Old Egyptian
(2600 - 2000 BC)-Dispersion of
the Nations
20th-14th
century BCLate SumerianOld Babylonian/Assyrian
(1950-1530 BC)Middle Egyptian
(2000 - 1350 BC)Minoan (Linear A and B),
Phoenician,
Mycenaean Greek,
HittitePatriarchs,
Exodus
14th-10th
century BC-Middle Babylonian/Assyrian
(1530-1000 BC)Late Egyptian
(1350 - 700 BC)Biblical Hebrew,
Aramaic,
Old ChineseJudges
10th-7th
century BC-Neo-Babylonian/Assyrian
(1000-600 BC)Late Egyptian
(1350 - 700 BC)Classical Greek,
Old LatinIsrael's United
and Divided Kingdoms
7th century BC
to AD-Late Babylonian
(600 BC - 100 AD)Demotic
(700 BC - AD 400)Old Persian,
Koine Greek,
Classical LatinExile and Return
of Israel
2 Peter 3 verses 5-6 - "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water."