A day in the life of an ancient Babylonian business mogul - Soraya Field Fiorio

1,161,173 views ・ 2021-01-07

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翻译人员: Elena W 校对人员: Helen Chang
00:07
As dawn breaks in the Babylonian city of Sippar,
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巴比伦西帕尔城破晓之际,
00:11
Beltani receives an urgent visit from her brother.
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贝尔塔尼接待她弟弟的紧急来访。
00:14
It’s 1762 B.C.E., during the reign of King Hammurabi.
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现在是公元前1762年, 国王汉谟拉比的统治时期。
00:19
Beltani is a naditu— a priestess and businesswoman,
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贝尔塔尼是一位那迪图—— 女祭司和女商人,
00:23
promised to the temple at birth.
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出生时被许诺去寺庙。
00:26
At puberty, she changed her name
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到了青春期,她改了名字,
00:28
and gained her elevated naditu status in a ceremony where a priest
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并在一个仪式中得到了 那迪图女祭司崇高的地位。
仪式上,一名祭祀从 献祭动物的内脏中寻找征兆。
00:33
examined the entrails of a sacrificed animal for omens.
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00:37
The naditu are an esteemed group drawn from Babylonia’s most affluent families.
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那迪图是个受人尊敬的职位, 她们来自巴比伦王国里最富裕的家庭。
00:42
Though the rules are different for naditu in each city,
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虽然那迪图在每个城市的规定都不同,
00:45
in Sippar they are celibate and never marry.
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在西帕尔,她们是独身者并且不能结婚。
00:48
They live inside the gagum, a walled area inside the temple complex,
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她们住在加古姆(gagum)内, 一片在庙宇内被围起来的区域。
00:53
but are free to come and go, and receive visitors.
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但可以自由出入和接待客人。
00:56
Beltani owns barley fields and a tavern.
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贝尔塔尼拥有一些麦地和一家酒馆。
01:00
Her brother manages these businesses while she fulfils her duties as a priestess.
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她的弟弟管着这些生意,
贝尔塔尼则负责履行祭司的职责。
01:05
This morning, he makes a troubling accusation:
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今天早上,他提出了个令人不安的指控:
01:08
her tavern keeper has been diluting wine with water.
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她的酒馆老板一直在用水稀释葡萄酒。
01:12
If true, this means she’s been undermining the business Beltani relies on
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如果这是真的, 这意味着她一直在破坏贝尔塔尼
01:17
to sustain her in old age.
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用来维持晚年生活的生意。
01:19
But the consequences would be even higher for the tavern keeper:
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但酒馆老板的后果更为严重:
01:23
the punishment of diluting wine is death by drowning.
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稀释葡萄酒的惩罚是溺水而死。
01:28
The temple court is meeting this afternoon.
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神殿的法庭今天下午开会。
01:30
Beltani has just a few short hours
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贝尔塔尼只有短短几个小时的时间
01:33
to find out whether there’s any truth to these allegations.
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来查明这些指控是否属实。
01:36
But she can’t go to the tavern to investigate.
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但她不能去酒馆直接调查。
01:38
Taverns are off limits for priestesses, even priestesses who own them.
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女祭司不能进入酒馆, 拥有酒馆的女祭司也不行。
01:43
She could be burned to death for entering.
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进去的处罚是火刑。
01:46
So she sends for the tavern keeper to meet her at the temple of Shamash,
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于是她让酒馆老板 在西帕尔守护神
沙玛什的神庙和她见面。
01:51
the patron god of Sippar.
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01:53
The temple is a stepped pyramid called a ziggurat,
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这座神庙是一种名为ziggurat的 阶梯式金字塔形的建筑,
01:56
in the heart of the city and visible from twenty miles away.
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位于城市中心,从20英里外就能看到。
02:00
It symbolically connects heaven and earth
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它象征性地连接着天地,
02:03
and is viewed as the literal home of the god Shamash,
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被视为守护神沙玛什真正的家园,
02:07
who gave humanity the code of laws
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他为人类定制了法典,
02:09
and is the judge of the Babylonian pantheon.
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是巴比伦万神殿的法官。
02:12
Beltani leaves an offering of bread and sesame oil in a private room.
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贝尔塔尼把祭品面包与芝麻油 放在一间私人房间里。
02:17
She never enters the inner chamber of the temple where the god lives,
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她从来没有进过神殿的内室, 那是神居住的地方,
02:20
a place so holy only high priestesses and kings visit.
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只有高级女祭司和国王才能进入。
02:26
Outside, worshippers play music and leave gifts,
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神殿外,朝拜者们演奏音乐并留下礼物,
02:29
which are later collected and used to feed temple workers, including the naditu.
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这些礼物会被收集起来用于 供养寺庙工作人员,其中包括纳迪图。
02:34
The tavern keeper is waiting with grim news.
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酒馆老板带来了糟糕的消息。
02:38
She says Beltani’s brother has been altering the weights
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她说贝尔塔尼的弟弟一直在更改
02:41
used to measure payments to cheat customers.
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用来衡量付款的秤,以欺骗顾客。
02:44
When the tavern keeper confronted him,
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当酒馆老板与他对峙时,
02:46
he falsely accused her of watering down the wine.
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他却污蔑酒馆老板, 说是她在用水稀释葡萄酒。
02:49
If true, Beltani’s brother is the dishonest one—
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如果这是真的,贝尔塔尼的弟弟在说谎——
02:52
and altering weights is another crime punishable by death.
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而更改秤的重量是能判死刑的罪。
02:56
Beltani is running out of time to get to the bottom of this.
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贝尔塔尼没剩多少时间查出真相了。
03:00
Though she can’t go to the tavern,
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虽然她不能去酒馆,
03:01
she can check on the barley fields her brother manages
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她可以去检查她弟弟管理着的麦地,
03:04
to see if he’s been honest there.
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看他有没有对自己如实汇报。
03:06
In the granary, she sees much more grain than he reported to her.
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在粮仓里,她看到的粮食 比他汇报的要多得多。
03:11
He’s been cheating her out of her share.
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他一直在骗取贝尔塔尼应得的份额。
03:14
Like all naditu in Sippar,
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向西帕尔所有的那迪图一样,
03:16
Beltani inherited the same portion of her father’s property as her brother.
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贝尔塔尼从她父亲继承了 和弟弟一样的财产。
03:20
These were rare circumstances for women in a time and place
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在一个财产通过男人转移的时代与地方,
03:24
where property passed through men.
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这对女性来说是罕见的状况。
03:26
Still, their families didn’t always honor their rights.
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但她们的家人并不总是尊重她们的权利。
03:30
Although naditu traditionally went into business with male relatives,
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虽然那迪图通常与男性亲属做生意,
03:34
the law stated they can choose someone else
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法律规定,如果她们的兄弟或叔叔 不能胜任这项工作,
03:38
if their brothers or uncles weren’t up to the task.
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她们可以选择其他人。
03:41
With the evidence she needs, she hurries to court.
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带着她需要的证据, 贝尔塔尼急忙赶去了法庭。
03:44
A judge presides over the temple court along with two naditu—
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一名法官与两名那迪图女祭司 一起主持法庭——
03:47
the overseer of the gagum and a scribe.
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加古姆的监管者和一名抄写员。
03:50
Beltani asks to remove her brother as her business manager,
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贝尔塔尼要求解除她弟弟管理员的职位,
03:54
citing the granary as evidence that he is mismanaging her properties.
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并以粮仓为证据, 证明他对自己的财产管理不善。
03:58
The judge grants her request.
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法官批准了她的请求。
04:00
The scribe records the new contract in cuneiform into a wet clay tablet,
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抄写员用锲形文字把新合同 记录在一块湿泥板上,
04:05
and the matter is settled.
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事情就解决了。
04:07
She's protected her income and spared her brother’s life
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她隐瞒了弟弟正真的罪行,
04:10
by withholding the true extent of his crimes.
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从而保护了自己的收入和他的性命。
04:14
Perhaps it is time to adopt a younger priestess:
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也许是时候收养一位年轻的女祭司了:
04:17
someone to take care of her in old age and inherit her property,
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一位在她年老时能照顾她 并继承她财产的人,
04:21
who might do a better job of helping with her business.
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也能更好地帮助她的生意。
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