關於埃及的神祕文化你不知道的10件事

1. Cleopatra was not Egyptian.

埃及豔后克里歐佩特拉竟不是埃及人

Along with King Tut, perhaps no figure is more famously associated with ancient Egypt than Cleopatra VII. But while she was born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was actually part of a long line of Greek Macedonians originally descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great's most trusted lieutenants.

說起古埃及，除了圖特王（King Tut），最有名的人物大概就是克里歐佩特拉七世了。儘管她出身於埃及亞歷山大，但她實際上是希臘馬其頓人的後裔，而馬其頓人則是亞歷山大大帝麾下最受信任的將軍托勒密一世的後代。

The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C., and most of its leaders remained largely Greek in their culture and sensibilities. In fact, Cleopatra was famous for being one of the first members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to actually speak the Egyptian language.

從公元前323年到公元前30年，托勒密王朝統治了埃及，並且大部分君主在文化和情感上都延續着希臘人的傳統。事實上，克里歐佩特拉聞名於世的原因卻在於她是托勒密王朝第一批會說埃及語的王室成員。

2. Egyptians of both sexes wore makeup.

古埃及人不論男女都化妝

Vanity is as old as civilization, and the ancient Egyptians were no exception. Both men and women were known to wear copious amounts of makeup, which they believed gave them the protection of the gods Horus and Ra.

有文明存在就有虛榮，古埃及也並不例外。男女都會畫濃妝，他們認爲這樣會得到鷹神與太陽神的庇護。

These cosmetics were made by grinding ores like malachite and galena into a substance called kohl. It was then liberally applied around the eyes with utensils made out of wood, bone and ivory.

他們所使用的化妝品都是磨碎的礦石，如孔雀石、方鉛礦均能製成一種稱爲眼影粉的東西。接着用木、骨頭或象牙做的用具來將其塗在眼睛周圍。

Women would also stain their cheeks with red paint and use henna to color their hands and fingernails, and both sexes wore perfumes made from oil, myrrh and cinnamon.

女人們還會將自己的臉頰塗成紅色，並用指甲花給手或指甲染色。埃及男女都要噴香水，這種香水是由油、沒藥、肉桂混合製成。

The Egyptians believed their makeup had magical healing powers, and they weren't entirely wrong: Research has shown that the lead-based cosmetics worn along the Nile actually helped stave off eye infections.

埃及人認爲化妝有着神奇的治癒功能，這種想法並非無稽之談：研究表明，在尼羅河畔勞作時畫着以鉛爲原料的化妝品確實可以抑制眼部感染。

3. Ancient Egyptians loved board games.

古埃及人熱愛棋盤遊戲

After a long day's work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games. Several different games were played, including "Mehen" and "Dogs and Jackals," but perhaps the most popular was a game of chance known as "Senet."

在尼羅河畔辛勤勞作了一天後，古埃及人通常會玩玩棋類遊戲來放鬆一下。他們會玩各種各樣的棋類遊戲，例如“盤蛇圖”、“狗和豺”等。但其中最受歡迎的當屬“賽尼特”（Senet），這個遊戲全靠運氣取勝。

This pastime dates back as far as 3500 B.C. and was played on a long board painted with 30 squares. Each player had a set of pieces that were moved along the board according to rolls of dice or the throwing sticks.

關於這一遊戲，歷史可追溯到公元前3500年。棋盤是一個畫有30個方格的長桌，每個玩家各執一套棋子，通過擲骰子或拋木棍來決定步數，按規定將棋子沿着桌面移動。

4. Egyptian women had a wide range of rights and freedoms.

古埃及女性具有廣泛的權利和自由

While they may have been publicly and socially viewed as inferior to men, Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and financial independence. They could buy and sell property, serve on juries, make wills and even enter into legal contracts.

人們普遍認爲古埃及女性地位不如男性，儘管如此，但她們仍享有廣泛的法定權利，並且經濟相對獨立。她們可以自由買賣財產，參與陪審，訂立遺囑，甚至簽訂合同。

Egyptian women did not typically work outside the home, but those who did usually received equal pay for doing the same jobs as men.

在古埃及，一般女性並不會在外勞作，但在外勞作的女性通常能獲得和男性相等的報酬。

Unlike the women of ancient Greece, who were effectively owned by their husbands, Egyptian women also had the right to divorce and remarry.

古希臘的女性實際上是丈夫的所有物，而與之不同的是，古埃及女性同樣有權利選擇離婚或再婚。

Egyptian couples were even known to negotiate an ancient prenuptial agreement. These contracts listed all the property and wealth the woman had brought into the marriage and guaranteed that she would be compensated for it in the event of a divorce.

這裏的夫妻甚至還會簽訂婚前協議。在婚前協議上會清楚列出女性結婚時所攜帶的嫁妝，並且，一旦離婚，將確保女性能得到一定的賠償。

5. Egyptian pharaohs were often overweight.

古埃及法老大都是胖子

Egyptian art commonly depicts pharaohs as being trim and statuesque, but this was most likely not the case. The Egyptian diet of beer, wine, bread and honey was high in sugar, and studies show that it may have done a number on royal waistlines.

在古埃及藝術中，法老畫像通常是通過精挑細琢的，法老個個身材健美挺拔，但事實並非如此。埃及人愛喝的啤酒、葡萄酒，愛吃的麪包、蜂蜜大都是高糖分的，研究表明，這些食物的過度飲食是古埃及人身圓體胖的一大幫手。

Examinations of mummies have indicated that many Egyptian rulers were unhealthy and overweight, and even suffered from diabetes.

通過對埃及人木乃伊的檢測發現，大部分埃及上層人士的身體健康狀況並不樂觀，並且體重超標，甚至有些還患有糖尿病。

A notable example is the legendary Queen Hatshepsut, who lived in the 15th century B.C. While her sarcophagus depicts her as slender and athletic, historians believe she was actually obese and balding.

哈特謝普蘇特王后（Queen Hatshepsut）就是一個典型的例子。她生活在公元前15世紀，可謂是埃及一個傳奇人物。她石棺上的畫像身材苗條，看上去體格健康，但歷史學家們認爲，她實際上是個禿頂的胖女人。

6. Egyptian workers were known to organize labor strikes.

古埃及工人會組織罷工

Even though they regarded the pharaoh as a kind of living god, Egyptian workers were not afraid to protest for better working conditions.

在古埃及，儘管法老是工人們心中永活的神，但工人並不會因爲害怕觸犯法老而停止對工作環境的追求。

The most famous example came in the 12th century B.C. during the reign of the New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses III. When laborers engaged in building the royal necropolis at Deir el-Medina did not receive their usual payment of grain, they organized one of the first recorded strikes in history.

最好的例證莫過於公元前12世紀的大罷工，當時正值拉美西斯三世上位期間，工人們在修建位於德爾麥迪娜（Deir el-Medina）的皇家陵墓時，因未能得到與往常等量的糧食作爲報酬，他們憤而組織了一起史無前例的罷工運動。

The protest took the form of a sit-in: The workers simply entered nearby mortuary temples and refused to leave until their grievances were heard. The gamble worked, and the laborers were eventually given their overdue rations.

罷工的工人不工作，只是紛紛走進附近的祭廟，在裏面打坐，並且拒絕離開，除非他們不公待遇的申訴得以受理。最終，工人們如願得到了自己被剋扣的糧食。在這場爭取權利的賭注中，他們贏了。

7. The pyramids were not built by slaves.

埃及金字塔並非奴隸修建

The life of a pyramid builder certainly wasn't easy—skeletons of workers commonly show signs of arthritis and other ailments—but evidence suggests that the massive tombs were built not by slaves but by paid laborers.

大部分修建金字塔的工人屍骨上都有着關節炎等多種疾病的痕跡，這表明他們的生活並不容易。但也由證據表明，這些巨型陵墓並非奴隸所建，而是一些高價聘請的勞工建的。

These ancient construction workers were a mix of skilled artisans and temporary hands, and some appear to have taken great pride in their craft.

這麼勞工要麼是技藝嫺熟的工匠，要麼是一些臨時工，似乎還有一些人對自己的手藝相當自豪。

Graffiti found near the monuments suggests they often assigned humorous names to their crews like the “Drunkards of Menkaure” or the “Friends of Khufu.”

有紀念碑旁的塗鴉提醒我們，他們經常給工友起一些搞笑的綽號，例如“孟卡拉的酒鬼”，還有“胡夫的好友”。

The idea that slaves built the pyramids at the crack of a whip was first conjured by the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century B.C., but most historians now dismiss it as myth.

公元前5世紀，希臘歷史學家希羅多德首次提出了奴隸在鞭聲中建造了金字塔的觀點，然而現在有很多歷史學家否認了這一猜測。

While the ancient Egyptians were certainly not averse to keeping slaves, they appear to have mostly used them as field hands and domestic servants.

儘管古埃及人並不反對買賣奴隸，但奴隸通常都在用來在田間勞作或是堂內打雜的。

8. Some Egyptian doctors had specialized fields of study.

部分古埃及醫生早已開始細化醫學研究

An ancient physician was usually a jack-of-all-trades, but evidence shows that Egyptian doctors sometimes focused on healing only one part of the human body.

一般來說，古代的內科醫師都是雜家，但有史料表明，在埃及，部分醫師有時只專門治療身體某部位的疾病。

This early form of medical specialization was first noted in 450 B.C. by the traveler and historian Herodotus. Discussing Egyptian medicine, he wrote, “Each physician is a healer of one disease and no more…some of the eye, some of the teeth, some of what pertains to the belly.”

早在公元前450年，希羅多德，古希臘著名旅行家、歷史學家，他首次發現了這種醫學分科細化的早期形式。關於埃及醫學，他寫道：“每位醫師只專注於治療一種疾病，僅限於一種......有人治療眼睛疾病，有人治療牙齒，有人研究肚子裏的器官。”

These specialists even had specific names. Dentists were known as "doctors of the tooth," while the term for proctologists literally translates to "shepherd of the anus."

這些專家還有專業的名字。如牙醫被稱爲“牙齒專用醫師”，直腸科醫師的名稱字面意思就是“肛門的看管者”。

9. Egyptians kept many animals as pets.

古埃及人養有許多寵物

The Egyptians saw animals as incarnations of the gods and were one of the first civilizations to keep household pets.

古埃及人將動物視爲神的化身，並且古埃及人是最早飼養家寵的文明之一。

Egyptians were particularly fond of cats, which were associated with the goddess Bastet, but they also had a reverence for hawks, ibises, dogs, lions and baboons.

古埃及人尤其喜歡養貓，因爲貓總是和貝斯特女神聯繫在一起。他們也尊重其他動物，如鷹、朱鷺、狗、獅子以及狒狒。

Many of these animals held a special place in the Egyptian home, and they were often mummified and buried with their owners after they died.

這些動物大部分都在埃及人家中有着特殊的地位，死後通常還會被作成木乃伊，與主人陪葬。

Other creatures were specially trained to work as helper animals. Egyptian police officers, for example, were known to use dogs and even trained monkeys to assist them when out on patrol.

另外，一些動物經過特殊的培訓會成爲埃及人的助手。比如，警察外出巡查時便會帶上訓練有素的狗，有時甚至是猴子。

10. The ancient Egyptians forged one of the earliest peace treaties on record.

有史以來第一部和平協定出自埃及人之手

For over two centuries the Egyptians fought against the Hittite Empire for control of lands in modern day Syria. The conflict gave rise to bloody engagements like 1274 B.C.'s Battle of Kadesh, but by time of the pharaoh Ramses II neither side had emerged as a clear victor.

古埃及與赫梯帝國（Hittie）進行了長達兩個世紀的土地爭奪戰爭，爭奪的焦點便是如今敘利亞所在的那片土地。國家衝突難免發生腥風血雨的戰役，例如公元前1274年的卡疊什戰役（Kadesh）。但直至法老拉美西斯二世（Ramses II）執政，兩國都還沒有分出一個勝負。

With both the Egyptians and Hittites facing threats from other peoples, in 1259 B.C. Ramses II and the Hittite King Hattusili III negotiated a famous peace treaty. This agreement ended the conflict and decreed that the two kingdoms would aid each other in the event of an invasion by a third party.

而且當時，兩國都同時腹背受敵。於是，公元前1259年，拉美西斯二世和赫梯國國王哈圖西里三世（Hattusili III）簽訂了著名的和平協定。協定結束了兩國長期以來的紛爭，並且頒佈了法令，規定兩國兩國任何一方面臨外敵入侵，另一方都要予以援助。

The Egyptian-Hittite treaty is now recognized as one of the earliest surviving peace accords, and a copy can even be seen above the entrance to the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York.

古埃及與赫梯國簽訂的這部和平協定是目前世界上現存最早的和平文獻之一，並且在紐約聯合國安理會會議大廳入口處還展示着這份協定的副本。