Barbarians. The Egyptians had several related words that appear to have referred to speakers of foreign languages and, by extension, to interpreters. The precise significance of these words is not clear, in part because they appear ultimately to be nonsense syllables used in imitation of foreigners' incomprehensible speech, much like the Greek term "barbarian" is ultimately related to the Greeks' perception of foreigners as saying nothing but "bar, bar, bar." Speakers of foreign languages were used in Egyptian expeditions into and beyond border areas, such as into the Sinai or to the Red Sea. In other contexts, interpreters were needed when foreigners visited the court of Pharaoh or conducted other official business. Presumably, Egyptian envoys to foreign lands could either speak the language of the country to which they were sent or had access to interpreters of their own.

Training? One...