Of course I'm only going to be ridiculed for saying this.
They did not speak Hebrew in early Genesis ... the best reasonable guess would be a language similar to Aramaic. The Jewish people were in Egypt from the time of Joseph until the time of Moses ... and the language they most likely spoke there was Egyptian. The development of the Hebrew language would have been post-Exodus, and Babel was early Genesis.
The Edicts of Ashoka (India, Mauryan empire) were carved on pillars and other large stones, and placed at the frontiers of his realm. There are dozens known, and each was carved in whatever local language prevailed. At least three up in Afghanistan-Pakistan are in Aramaic, a language probably introduced when the Israelite tribes were rounded up and exiled by the Assyrians to the frontiers of their empire. The Ashkenazy or European Jews show their Middle Eastern heritage in their DNA; their ancestors got to eastern Europe in the same manner and at the same time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AsokaKandahar.jpg
http://www.varchive.org/ce/baalbek/gozan.htm
http://www.varchive.org/ce/baalbek/khazars.htm
