英语口语畅谈世界文化之埃及26:Pharaohs法老

英语口语畅谈世界文化

之埃及:26 Pharaohs 法老

P: Professor Thomson             S:Student
P: 汤姆森教授                             S:学生

S：Professor Thomson, do you know anything about when the pharaohs lived, in ancient Egypt?
S：汤姆森教授，你知道古埃及的法老们大概生活在什么时代吗？

P：As a matter of fact I do. They have a long history, form the Pre-Dynastic period, 5500-3100 BC to the Late Kingdom period, 664-332 BC. Pharaoh is the ancient Egyptian name of king.
P：我还确实知道。他们生活的年代很长，从公元前5500年至前3100年的前王朝起，一直到公元前664年至前332年的王国末期。法老是古埃及君主的称号。

S：That is a long history! Too long for my project, I think. What about famous pharaohs?
S：这段历史真的很长！我想，对我的研究计划来说也太长了。研究些著名的法老怎么样？

P：There were certainly many of those. Sneferu was a pharaoh during the Old Kingdom period, he reigned for around 30 years. He is famous because he was the first pharaoh to build pyramids.
P：有名的法老也有很多。 斯尼夫鲁是古王国时期的法老，统冶王国大约有30年。他有第一个修建金字塔的法老，因此而出名。

S：He’s very important then. Another?
S：那么他是很重要了。其他著名的法老呢？

P：OK，next is Khufu, who reigned during the 4 dynasty. He was famous for building The Great Pyramid at Giza, one of the most well-known throughout the world. This pyramid shows us how Khufu was able to lead and co-ordinate his people, who helped him to build the pyramid in exchange for goods and services.
P：下一个是胡夫，是第四王朝的法老。他以修建吉萨的大金字塔而出名，这是世界上最有名的金字塔之一。该金字塔向我们展示了胡夫是如何领导和协调他的臣民，让他们帮助他修建金字塔以换取商品和公共服务的。

S：Why didn’t he pay them? After all, they were construction workers.
S：他为什么不付给他们工资？毕竟他们是建筑工人。

P：At that time, there was no monetary system in Egypt.
P：当时埃及没有货币体制。

S：Oh, I see. OK, who’s next?
S：噢，我知道了。好了，下一个是谁？

P：Amenhotep III is next, he was king during the 18 dynasty and he reigned for almost 40 years. He’s well known for being a prolific builder and a benevolent ruler. He built many splendid temples and statues of himself, but his greatest achievement was the Temple of Amun. It shows a relief which served to establish the legitimacy of his rule by depicting his birth directly form the god Amun.
P：下一个是阿蒙霍特普三世，他是第18王朝的法老，统治王国约40年。以建筑众多和仁慈统治而闻名于世。他建了很多富丽堂皇的庙宇和他自己的雕像，但他最伟大的业绩是修建了阿蒙神庙。里面有个浮雕描述他是阿蒙神投胎转世，以此来巩固他合法的统治地位。

S：He was king for 40 years you say ? That’s a long reign, he sound like a great king. Are there any more famous pharaohs?
S：你是说他当了40年的国王吗？统治时间那么长，似乎像个伟大的国王。还有什么著名的法老吗？

P：Yes, next I will tell you about perhaps the most famous of all the pharaohs. He was known as “The Boy King”. Have you heard this before?
P：还有，下面我要给你讲可能是所有法老中最有名的一个。他以“男孩国王”而闻名。这个你听说过吗？

S：Yes, I think so. Was it Tutan … something?
S：是的，我想我听说过。是不是图坦什么的？

P：Indeed! Tutankhamun, or “King Tut ”, he reigned for a very short time and died in his teens.
P：没错！是图坦卡蒙或图坦王，他统治的时间很短，十几岁就死了。

S：In his teens, well “The Boy King” is definitely the right name for him, then. Thanks so much for your help, I think my project will be a great success.
S：十几岁，那“男孩国王”的称号对他来说再确切不过了。谢谢你的帮助，我想我的研究计划会很成功的.

【单词词组讲解】
As a matter of fact  事实上
Money system  货币体质
In exchange for goods and services 换取商品和公共服务
a benevolent ruler  仁慈的统治者

【背景介绍】
法老是古埃及国王的尊称，也是一个神秘的名字，它是埃及语的希伯来文音译，其象形文字写作，意为大房屋，在古王国时代（约前2686～前2181）仅指王宫，并不涉及国王本身。新王国第十八王朝图特摩斯三世起，开始用于国王自身，并逐渐演变成对国王的一种尊称。第二十二王朝（前945～前730）以后，成为国王的正式头衔。习惯上把古埃及的国王通称为法老。法老作为奴隶制专制君主，掌握全国的军政、司法、宗教大权，其意志就是法律，是古埃及的最高统治者。法老自称是太阳神阿蒙-赖神之子，是神在地上的代理人和化身。