In the ancient world "to prophesy" was synonymous with "speaking in an unknown tongue."
The Egyptian courtier and servant of Pharaoh, Wenamun, describes this phenomena among some "prophets" that he encounters in the Levant region near Byblos in about the year 1112 BC.
The priestess of Apollo at the famous Oracle of Delphi famously "spoke in tongues" when she "prophesied" and an interpretation by a priest was required. A similar scene is depicted in the recent film "300" showing the Spartan leader Leonidas consulting an oracle who "speaks in tongues" which is subsequently "interpreted" by the priests.
There has been a lengthy discussion of this topic in scholarly journals like
Veritas Testamentum, but you have to pay to read the whole thing or attend a university that provides a subscription. JSTOR provides a fairly good read here:
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1356093 for free. There is a larger - though somewhat dated - discussion here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=sqw...page&q&f=false
To "prophesy" in the ancient world was the same outwardly observable phenomena as our own "speaking in tongues."
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