Why was the Rosetta Stone so important? - Franziska Naether

翻译人员: Tong PL 校对人员: Sue Lu

For centuries, scholars puzzled over the hieroglyphs

几个世纪以来，学者们一直困惑于

they found carved onto ancient Egyptian ruins, tablets, and papyri.

刻在古埃及废墟、石板 和莎草纸上的象形文字。

But a unique discovery would finally help unlock their meaning.

但是，一项特别的发现 终将帮助解开它们的涵义。

In 1799, as the French military invaded Egypt,

1799 年，当法国军队入侵埃及时，

an officer encountered a curious stone on the outskirts of Rashid, or Rosetta.

一名军官在拉希德或罗塞塔的郊区 发现了一块奇特的石头。

It was inscribed with three different portions of text:

它刻有三段不同的文本：

Egyptian hieroglyphs, which is the oldest Egyptian script,

埃及象形文字， 最古老的埃及文字，

dating back some 5,000 years;

可追溯到大约 5,000 年前；

Demotic Egyptian, which is a later derivative of Egyptian;

通俗埃及语，为埃及语后来的衍生体；

and Ancient Greek.

以及古希腊语。

It seemed that each section was a rough translation of the others,

每部分似乎都是对其它部分的粗略翻译，

meaning the stone presented an unprecedented key

意味着这块石头提供了前所未有的钥匙

to unlocking hieroglyphs.

用以破解象形文字。

English troops soon intercepted the stone

英国军队很快就截获了这块石头，

and brought it to the British Museum in 1802,

于 1802 年将其带到大英博物馆，

where it became one of the most popular displays.

在那里它成为最受欢迎的展品之一。

Various European scholars—

欧洲的多位学者，

including Johan Åkerblad, Thomas Young, and Jean-François Champollion—

包括约翰·阿克布拉德、托马斯·杨 和让·弗朗索瓦·商博良，

worked to decode the Egyptian scripts.

致力于破译埃及文字。

There were some crucial initial clues.

文字中有一些关键的初步线索。

The Greek section included the names of royal figures,

希腊语部分包括了王室人物的名字，

while certain areas in the Demotic section had bracket-like forms

通俗埃及语某些部分有类似括号的形状，

and some hieroglyphic sections were encircled.

而象形文字的一些部分被圈在一起。

Could these portions encode the same royal names?

这些部分会否代表相同的王室名字呢？

Åkerblad matched some characters up and, in 1802,

阿克布拉德对一些字符 进行了匹配，并在 1802 年

successfully decoded the royal names and some simple words,

成功破译王室姓名和一些简单词语，

like “much” and “temples” in the Demotic script.

比如通俗语中的“很多” 和 “神庙”。

This led Åkerblad to believe that all Demotic signs were alphabetic,

这让阿克布拉德相信 所有的通俗语符号都是字母，

meaning each letter represented a discrete sound—

每个字母都代表一个独立的发音，

much like in English.

就像英语一样。

Thomas Young, in contrast, suspected that some of the Demotic signs were logograms—

相反，托马斯·杨怀疑 一些通俗语符号是语标，

that is, symbols encoding entire words or phrases.

也就是代表整个单词或短语的缩记符。

For example, he believed a sun disk with a stroke indicated the sun or sun god.

例如，他认为带条直线的太阳盘符号 表示太阳或太阳神。

Around 1814, he deciphered some recurring Demotic words like “pharaoh” and “Egypt.”

1814 年，他破译了一些反复出现的 通俗语，如 “法老” 和 “埃及”。

Young also had the critical insight

杨也有关键性的洞察，

that Demotic was a later iteration of hieroglyphs.

即通俗语是象形文字后来的变体。

And, studying the hieroglyphic text,

而且，在研究象形文字时，

Young successfully decoded the royal name “Ptolemy.”

杨成功解读了王室名字“托勒密”。

But he still believed the prevailing misconception

但他仍然相信一个普遍存在的误解，

that most hieroglyphs were logograms representing ideas— not sounds.

即大多数象形文字是代表 思想的语标，而不是声音。

Using his knowledge of other scripts and languages,

利用他对其他文字和语言的了解，

like the Egyptian Coptic he’d learned from a Coptic Christian priest,

例如他从科普特基督教神父 那里学到的埃及科普特语，

Champollion realized that most encircled hieroglyphs were phonetic.

商博良意识到大多数被 圈起的象形文字都是拼音文字。

They represented sounds: the Egyptian vulture, an “a”;

它们代表着声音： 埃及秃鹰，一个 “a”；

the three fox skins, “m-s”, and so on.

三张狐皮， “mes”，依此类推。

This finally allowed him to read the Egyptian names “Ramses” and “Thutmose.”

他终于读懂了 “拉美西斯” 和 “图特摩斯” 这些埃及名字。

Cross-referencing other hieroglyphic texts,

通过交叉引用其他象形文本，

Champollion confirmed that many hieroglyphs

商博良证实许多象形文字

beyond the encircled names were phonetic.

包括被圈起的名字，都是拼音文字。

And on September 14th, 1822,

1822 年 9 月 14 日，

he ran to his brother’s house and declared the breakthrough.

他跑到哥哥家宣布了这项重大突破。

Later, Champollion determined that beyond alphabetic and logographic hieroglyphs,

后来，商博良确定， 除了字母和语标象形文字外，

some were classifiers that sorted words into categories,

还有一些是将单词按类别分开的分类词，

like occupations, plants, and abstract concepts.

例如职业、植物和抽象概念。

The first complete translation of the Rosetta Stone

罗塞塔石碑的第一本完整译本

was finally published in the early 1850s.

终于在 19 世纪 50 年代初出版。

So, what did it actually say?

那么，它到底写了些什么？

The inscription was marked 196 BCE.

铭文标记于公元前 196 年。

It honored the first anniversary

它纪念了13岁的法老

of 13-year-old Pharaoh Ptolemy V’s coronation

托勒密五世加冕一周年，

and outlined a series of benefits for the Egyptian priesthood.

并概述了一系列给予 埃及神职人员的福利。

The inscriptions described laws for maintaining temples

铭文描述了维护寺庙

and performing rituals,

和举行仪式的法律，

like the burial of sacred animals.

例如神兽的埋葬。

At the time, Egypt was a multicultural society.

当时，埃及是一个多元文化的社会，

Two main languages were spoken:

主要使用两种语言：

Ancient Greek, brought by Egypt’s conquerors,

由埃及的征服者带回的古希腊语

and Demotic Egyptian, the native language.

和母语通俗埃及语。

Hieroglyphs represented Middle Egyptian,

象形文字代表中古埃及语，

a language that was already antiquated but may have been included

它已经过时了， 但仍被刻在罗塞塔上，

to convey a sense of authority.

可能是为了传达一种权威感吧。

The decree was copied onto many stones and erected in temples.

法令被复制到许多石碑上， 并竖立在众多神庙里。

However, as regimes shifted,

但是，随着政权的转移，

edifices were deconstructed and reconstructed.

很多建筑物被拆除并重建。

Some scholars think the Rosetta Stone was originally placed in a temple in Sais.

一些学者认为罗塞塔石碑 最初是放在赛斯的神庙里。

It’s unclear how it ended up 80 kilometers away,

目前尚不清楚它如何 去到 80 公里以外的，

but it may have been transported up the Nile after the late 15th century.

很可能是在 15 世纪之后 被运送到尼罗河上游。

Once deciphered, hieroglyphs helped overturn misconceptions.

一旦被破译，象形文字 有助于排除一些误解。

Subterranean chambers within Egyptian pyramids

埃及金字塔内的地下墓室

were once thought to be secret sites of priestly initiation and study.

曾被认为是祭司启蒙和学习的秘密地点。

But it was finally confirmed that pyramids were tombs

但最终证实金字塔是为来世

housing sacred preparations for the afterlife.

做神圣准备的坟墓。

Soon, entire texts could be translated that showcased

很快，整篇文本就被翻译出来，

the complexity of ancient Egyptian religious compositions.

展示了古埃及宗教作品的复杂性。

Experts are still decoding new hieroglyphs as they arise

专家们仍在解读新发现的象形文字，

and untangling instances of tricky grammar and wordplay.

并解开语法和文字游戏中的棘手问题。

The Rosetta Stone helped illuminate one of the world’s oldest written languages

罗塞塔石碑帮助阐明了 世界上最古老的书面语言之一

and the vibrant history it emerged from.

以及其所源自的充满活力的历史。

And yet, the pillaged artifact remains far from its provenance today.

然而，被掠夺的文物至今仍远离故土。