The pharaoh that wouldn't be forgotten - Kate Green

翻译人员: Enshu Cheng 校对人员: Cissy Yun

Three and a half thousand years ago in Egypt,

在三千五百多年前的埃及

a noble pharaoh was the victim of a violent attack.

一位高贵的法老成为了一次激烈的攻击中的受害者

But the attack was not physical.

但是那次攻击不是物质层面的

This royal had been dead for 20 years.

这位法老已经死亡了二十年了

The attack was historical,

那次攻击有极大的历史价值

an act of damnatio memoriae, the damnation of memory.

那是一次除名毁忆，一种对记忆的毁灭

Somebody smashed the pharaoh's statues,

有人将法老的雕像粉碎

took a chisel and attempted to erase the pharaoh's name and image from history.

用凿子试图将法老的名字和形象从历史中除去

Who was this pharaoh, and what was behind the attack?

这位法老是谁？ 这次攻击又是谁在背后指使的？

Here's the key:

这里是关键：

the pharaoh Hatshepsut was a woman.

法老哈特谢普苏特是位女性

In the normal course of things, she should never have been pharaoh.

在正常情况下，她是无法当上法老的

Although it was legal for a woman to be a monarch,

尽管女性成为最高统治者是合法的

it disturbed some essential Egyptian beliefs.

这还是妨碍了一些基本的埃及信仰

Firstly, the pharaoh was known as the living embodiment

首先，法老被认为是

of the male god Horus.

男神荷鲁斯的活化身

Secondly, disturbance to the tradition of rule by men

第二，对男性统治的传统的动摇

was a serious challenge to Maat,

对Maat来说是一个严峻的挑战

a word for "truth," expressing a belief in order and justice,

Maat意思是“真理”，象征着对规律和公正的信仰

vital to the Egyptians.

这对埃及人来说十分关键

Hatshepsut had perhaps tried to adapt

哈特谢普苏特可能尝试过用她的名称

to this belief in the link between order and patriarchy through her titles.

适应这种规则和父系社会紧密相连的信仰

She took the name Maatkare,

她给自己命名为马卡里

and sometimes referred to herself

并且有时叫自己

as Hatshepsu, with a masculine word ending.

哈特谢普苏特，一个更有男子气概尾音的名字

But apparently, these efforts didn't convince everyone,

但是很明显，这些努力并没有让每个人都信服

and perhaps someone erased Hatshepsut's image

可能有些人认为抹去哈特谢普苏特的形象

so that the world would forget the disturbance to Maat,

这个世界就会忘了她对真理的干扰

and Egypt could be balanced again.

然后埃及就可以重新安定了

Hatshepsut, moreover, was not the legitimate heir to the thrown,

哈特谢普苏特，此外，也不是王位的合理继承者

but a regent, a kind of stand-in co-monarch.

而是一个摄政王，一种常务，代理统治者

The Egyptian kingship traditionally passed from father to son.

埃及王权传统上是从父亲传给儿子

It passed from Thutmose I to his son Thutmose II,

它从图特摩斯一世传给他的儿子图特摩斯二世

Hatshepsut's husband.

哈特谢普苏特的配偶

It should have passed from Thutmose II directly to his son Thutmose III,

王位应该再从图特摩斯二世直接传给他的儿子，图特摩斯三世

but Thutmose III was a little boy when his father died.

但是图特摩斯三世在他父亲去世时还是一个小男孩

Hatshepsut, the dead pharaoh's chief wife and widow,

哈特谢普苏特，那位死去法老的主配偶，一个寡妇

stepped in to help as her stepson's regent

介入并帮助她的继子统治

but ended up ruling beside him as a fully fledged pharaoh.

但是最后变成了在他旁边统治的独立的法老

Perhaps Thutmose III was angry about this.

估计图特摩斯三世对这个情况十分生气

Perhaps he was the one who erased her images.

可能他就是那个抹去她形象的人

It's also possible that someone wanted to dishonor Hatshepsut

但也有可能是有的人想玷辱哈特谢普苏特

because she was a bad pharaoh.

因为她是一个不好的法老

But the evidence suggests she was actually pretty good.

但是证据显示，她其实还是不错的

She competently fulfilled the traditional roles of the office.

她完全履行了传统上统治的职责

She was a great builder.

她是一个伟大的建筑者

Her mortuary temple, Djeser-Djeseru,

她的祭庙，Djeser-Djeseri

was an architectural phenomenon at the time

那时是建筑上的奇迹

and is still admired today.

现在仍然被景仰着

She enhanced the economy of Egypt,

她促进了埃及的经济

conducting a very successful trade mission to the distant land of Punt.

十分成功的管理了一个前往遥远蓬特的交易任务

She had strong religious connections.

她有很强的宗教关联

She even claimed to be the daughter of the state god, Amun.

她甚至声称是主神阿蒙的女儿

And she had a successful military career, with a Nubian campaign,

并且在努比亚作战时有一个成功的军事生涯

and claims she fought alongside her soldiers in battle.

并且声称她在战争中与她的战士们一同作战

Of course, we have to be careful when we assess the success

当然，我们不得不小心的评价

of Hatshepsut's career,

哈特谢普苏特的成功

since most of the evidence was written by Hatshepsut herself.

因为大部分证据都是哈特谢普苏特自己写的

She tells her own story in pictures and writing

她在图画的文字中写她自己的故事

on the walls of her mortuary temple

画写在她祭庙的墙上

and the red chapel she built for Amun.

和她为阿蒙建造的红色礼拜堂中

So who committed the crimes against Hatshepsut's memory?

所以是谁对哈特谢普苏特的历史形象下了黑手？

The most popular suspect is her stepson, nephew and co-ruler, Thutmose III.

最普遍认为的嫌疑人是她的继子、侄子、一同统治时的人，图特摩斯三世

Did he do it out of anger because she stole his throne?

是他因为她抢走了他的王位而生气 进而做了这一切？

This is unlikely since the damage wasn't done

这不太可能，因为那些破坏直到哈特谢普苏特死后

until 20 years after Hatshepsut died.

二十年后才进行

That's a long time to hang onto anger and then act in a rage.

对于一直气愤，最后在大怒中实施破坏来说， 这时间太长了

Maybe Thutmose III did it to make his own reign look stronger.

可能图特摩斯三世这样做来加固自己的统治

But it is most likely that he or someone else erased the images

但是最有可能的是他或者其他人抹去她的形象

so that people would forget that a woman ever sat on Egypt's throne.

这样人们就会忘记有个女性曾经拥有过埃及的王位

This gender anomaly was simply too much of a threat to Maat

这个异常的性别对Maat简单来说就是太大的威胁了

and had to be obliterated from history.

必须在历史中去除

Happily, the ancient censors were not quite thorough enough.

高兴的是，古时的检查没有那么彻底

Enough evidence survived for us to piece together what happened,

足够的证据存留了下来，让我们拼凑明白了发生了什么

so the story of this unique powerful woman can now be told.

所以这位独特的、有影响力的女人的故事 现在可以被传颂了