So, let's go back a thousand years ...

Upon completion of a trip around the world, a key factor comes to mind ... language.

     This question came up often upon our return: How did you manage to speak and communicate in so many countries?  Do you speak a bunch of languages?  How in the world (pardon the pun) did you talk to people and get around?

     Well, it's not as hard as you might think.  Most places where frequent travelers go and visit, like airports and hotels, have someone who can speak English.  We are lucky and blessed coming from America that most of the "modern" world is familiar with English. 

     You don't need to speak a lot of foreign languages to get around - although it doesn't hurt.  And speaking a foreign language can make things fun, like a little Spanish or French, talking to someone in India or Cambodia.  

     But the modern world is not the point of this blog post.  The ancient world is a lot more interesting.  

     
     For example, what language did Marco Polo use to communicate when he went across the Middle East and Asia in the year 1200 or so?  How did ancient explorers communicate, such as intrepid sailors like Magellan?
     Did Sir Walter Raleigh just consult the app on his iPhone to talk with Indians and Hawaiians four hundred years ago?  Probably not.  

     I am completely mystified by the ancient world of language.  For starters, there were a lot more languages back in the old days.  
     Scholars tell us that we are losing a lot of languages.  
     Languages are dropping like flies.  They are going away and will become extinct, and bumper stickers remind us that extinct ... means ... forever.   

     
     But beyond that, how did anyone communicate with the next village, let alone the other side of the world?   It's a puzzle to me. 

     As a matter of fact, in Biblical times, the Apostle Paul sailed around the Mediterranean, to places like Malta (we were there recently) and all the way to Spain.  How did he get his point across to hostile people who spoke in a different tongue?  He often got beaten to a pulp for his trouble. 

     
     Okay, time to stop asking questions and come up with some answers.  How did people communicate in ancient times?

1.  Interpreters - they would  befriend or capture a local who had a mother and father from different cultures, not unlike today, who could speak two languages.  They would entice (or force) this person to come with them.

2.  They didn't bother with language, they just conquered the place and took over.  A good example of this was Alexander the Great, who conquered most of the known world at the time and made everyone speak Greek.  He was a very powerful man, and he was pretty mean, so you didn't argue.  You just gave your best effort to speak Greek.  

3.  There were a few universal "super languages", things like Latin or Chinese, or Arabic, or Greek, and now in the modern day maybe even English.  Latin is still used in this day, and is the root of many languages.  And there are so darn many Chinese that they can influence things on their own.  

---------------  A side note:  The sheer number of people is not a guarantee that a major language will be standard.  Consider India, a nation of 1.25 billion people.  They have 22 official languages, plus a whole lot more local dialects.  -------------------------

4.  Writing had something to do with it.  Characters that were written down, or carved in wood, carved in stone, parchment, etc. could convey concepts that spoken words could not.  
     In fact, in this modern day, iconic symbols still work.  Ever buy something from IKEA?  All their stuff is designed so that you can look at an illustration and figure out how to put it together. 
     Most airports in the world use a standard symbol to indicate the basic functions, like where are the bathrooms?

5.  Business had a lot to do with it.  Many of the early explorers, and even the ancient traders, didn't need to know a lot of language, they just needed to know numbers in order to negotiate.  If I have spices or silk - all I want to know is how much gold or rum you will give me in return.  
     The ancient merchants were great communicators, even if it was all about the money.

     Traveling around the modern world is still full of challenges, but it's nothing compared to Marco Polo and Vasco de Gama and Sir Francis Drake and the others.  We have it pretty easy in comparison.  
          
     For one thing, people are not constantly trying to kill us.  Well, maybe some of them are.  Watch out for bombs in Egypt.
   
    Secondly, when Marco Polo came home from his years in Asia, he was imprisoned.  Welcome home, Marco!  
     Apparently he told his fabulous stories to a cell mate when he was in jail in Genoa Italy.  I can sort of identify with that myself, being held in jail in a foreign country ...   
     Hey, the more things change, the more they remain the same.  And traveling the world with limited language skills ... is a whole lot easier than it used to be. 

     As an example, I can picture the old days and Marco Polo might have gotten lost and asked a local "pardon me old chap, can you point me toward the silk road?"
     And the answer came back:  "ljfome wovds mtedhi odsvls dfmelj mcdiekt hjsopds jkelsdos" 
     And Marco looks off into the distance and mutters: "easy for you to say ..."