The Denver Jewish news., 1919-06-18
Babylonia the Birthplace
kof Many Tongues
ADDRESS DELIVERED By VICTOR
NEUHAUS BEFORE THE ADVER-
TISING BUREAU OF THE CIVIC
AND COMMERCIAL ASSOCIA-
TION.

| TION.
Mr. Victor Neuhaus. publisher of the
| Denver Jewish News. delivered the fol-
lowing address before the Civic and
He said in part:
Meme. Meme Tekel Upharsim"-
these words appeared in fiery letters
upon the Temple walls. prOnouncins
the death sentence upon Belshazzar
and forpcasting the downfall of Baby
| Ion.
Meme, Meme. Texel Upharsim!"
Number. number. weight and di-
vision" is the literal translation given
10 these mysterious words, which Dan
iel interpreted as meaning You have
been weighed in the balance and found
wanting These words are meaning
less to ms. except in connection with
the BabylOnian story. The language
from which they sprang has passed
away: like Babylon's hanging gardens.
they are waited into the dim haze of
time and remain but u dream.
And yet Meme, meme. tckel uphar-
sim" lives vividly today as on the
night Cyrus conquered that ancient
city. We see the king in all his orien-
tai splendOr. we see the lebauchery
and the downfall OF a great nation.
Meme. meme. tekel upharsim" has
l v,atn nj Il rafs ,intp,
the scroll of time. and this story lives
on and on In the mind Of the world.
/ Language has made deed immortal.
| Language alone can make deeds i'm
mcrtnl! Many thousand years previous
I to the above scene in Babylon upon
that very spot. the Languages of the
world were born.
The Bible tells us that after the
great fiood the people Of the earth
gathered in Babel or Babylon and at
trmyptpsi -tu ertsr a tower. AZ Il -mOn,i-
ment of their unity This tower was
20 be so high as to reach the heavens. In
order to stop this daring undertaking
and to make impossible a concerted
action among all people. who presum-
ably until then had spoken hut one
language. the Lord confused the ton
gues of the tower builders. The Babel
OF languages was thus created. Being
unable to understand each other. the
tower-builders soon began quarreling
and fighting one another and they
have fought ever since.
Now. IL this story were true, we
might come to the conclusion that II
we had hut one language upon earth
all would he peaceful and serene. But
/ the story of Babylon is not respOn-
sible for the many languages that are
spoken on earth today. 1t was not
concentration, not the wrath of God.
hut isolation that is responsible for the
many different tongues spoken today.
This tower myth like many oriental
illegories nevertheless discloses n great
ruth.
Language is the tool and the material
of the advertising man.
As advertising people. we are nat
orally interested in the material and
tools we use in our trade. profession,
art. or whatever you may choose to
call ii. .5
] Language is our Material.
What is language?
| What Is its origin?
What are its limitations?
What are its possibilities?
Language is either sound or a
picture that conveys thought from one
mind to another. The picture we call
writing. the sound we call speech.
The origin of language does not be-
gin with the human being-but dates
back to the first living creature that
was able to produce a. sound.
Scientists have studied the Language
of our nearest relatives in the animal
wOrld--the monkey-and it is claimed
that they have succeeded in discover
ing the meaning of the sounds made by
them. But the origin of the animal
| IfnptipunI on Dur I