What happened to the lost Kingdom of Kush? - Geoff Emberling

翻译人员: Yuwei Wu 校对人员: Helen Chang

Along the Nile River, in what is now northern Sudan,

沿着尼罗河，现在的苏丹北部，

lay the ancient civilization of Kush.

蕴含着古库什文明。

Though they were once conquered by a powerful neighbor,

即使曾经他们被强大的邻居征服，

the kings and queens of Kush would go on to successfully challenge

古库什的国王和女王也会挑战

two of the most dominant empires in history.

在历史中最具统治力的两个帝国。

From 1500 to 1100 BCE, Egypt controlled Kush,

公园前1500年到1100年， 埃及控制着古库什，

introducing many Egyptian cultural and religious practices.

带来了许多埃及文化的宗教习俗。

The civilization of Kush was more than a thousand years old at that time.

那时的古库什文明 已经超过了一千年。

Its early capital city at Kerma had impressive temples, palaces, and houses,

早期的首都科马有着 威风的寺庙、宫殿和房屋，

including a massive mudbrick temple structure that had a chapel deep inside,

其中包含一座巨大的泥砖寺庙， 寺庙深处有一个小教堂，

reached by a long staircase at the center.

可以通过中心的楼梯到达。

Rich gold mines helped the Kushites build a flourishing commercial network,

丰富的金矿帮助库什人 建立了繁荣的商业网络，

making bronze weapons and tools and trading materials like incense,

制造青铜武器与工具，

还交易熏香、兽皮、象牙

animal skins, ivory, and ebony wood from sub-Saharan Africa.

乌木等，来自撒哈拉以南的材料。

The tide started to change for Kush as Egypt descended into civil war.

随着埃及陷入内战， 库什的情况开始发生变化。

By 750 BCE, Egypt was divided into local kingdoms with fluctuating alliances.

到公元前750年，埃及被划分为 具有波动联盟的地方皇室。

The Kushite king Piankhy saw an opportunity.

库什特王Piankhy看到了机会。

He led his navy, flanked by horsemen and archers,

他让他的海军，两侧是骑手和弓箭手，

up the Nile to the gateway city of Khemenu.

沿着尼罗河到达门户城市赫梅努。

As Piankhy’s army constructed siege ramps and battle towers,

当Piankhy的军队 建造攻城坡道和战塔时，

the city’s ruler sent his wives and daughters to negotiate—

这座城市的统治者 派他的妻子和女儿去谈判——

not with Piankhy, but with the women of his royal household,

不是和Piankhy， 而是和他王室的女人谈判，

later known as kandake,

她们后来被称为坎达克，

who were extremely influential in military affairs and political succession.

在军事事务和政治继承上极具影响力。

At the end of a long siege, Piankhy entered the conquered city

在一场漫长的围城战结束后， Piankhy进入了这座被征服的城市，

and bitterly criticized the conditions in its stables.

并严厉批评了马厩的条件。

From there, Piankhy and the Kushite forces

从那里，Piankhy和Kushite军队

conquered the Egyptian capital of Memphis.

占领了埃及首都孟菲斯。

Piankhy installed his sister, Amunirdis, as priestess of the great god Amun,

Piankhy 将他的妹妹 Amunirdis

安置在埃及城市底比斯 担任大神 Amun 的女祭司，

in the Egyptian city of Thebes,

and left other Kushite officials there before returning to live in Kush.

并在返回库什之前 将其他库什派官员留在那里。

His successors extended control all the way to the Nile Delta.

他的继任者将控制 一直延伸到尼罗河三角洲。

This was a high point for the Empire of Kush:

这是库什帝国的鼎盛时期:

trade thrived, and they built magnificent temples,

贸易繁荣，他们沿着尼罗河 建造了宏伟的庙宇、

palaces, and pyramid tombs all along the Nile.

宫殿和金字塔坟墓。

But the Assyrian army was approaching Egypt in its annual campaigns.

但亚述人的军队 在每年一次的战役中逼近埃及。

When the Assyrians began to encroach on trade routes near Jerusalem,

当亚述人开始侵占耶路撒冷 附近的贸易通道时，

the Kushite king Taharqo moved to stop them.

库施王塔哈尔卡采取行动阻止他们。

The Assyrians defeated him with the help of some rebelling Egyptian princes,

亚述人在一些反叛的 埃及王子的帮助下打败了他，

and drove him out of Egypt in the 7th century BCE.

并在公元前7世纪将他驱逐出埃及。

The Kushites continued to rule in their homeland for nearly 1,000 years

库施人继续在他们的家乡 统治了近1000年，

that were prosperous and innovative.

那里繁荣而富有创新精神。

They moved their capital farther south to the city of Meroe,

他们将首都迁往更南方的梅罗伊城，

where they built temples to a new god called Apedemak.

在那里建造了一座神庙， 供奉一位名叫阿佩德马克的新神。

They built new cities in the savannah south of the Sahara Desert,

他们在撒哈拉沙漠南部的 大草原上建造了新的城市，

some of which contained huge reservoirs for water.

其中一些城市有巨大的蓄水池。

When the Roman Empire conquered Egypt in 31 BCE,

当罗马帝国在公元前31年征服埃及时，

Kushite armies again traveled north, led by Queen Amanirenas.

库施人的军队再次北上， 由女王阿马尼亚娜斯率领。

She led them to success in battle against the Romans,

她带领他们在与罗马人的 战斗中取得了胜利，

capturing the bronze head of a statue of the Roman emperor Augustus,

夺取了罗马皇帝奥古斯都的青铜头像，

and bringing it back to Kush.

并将它带回了库什。

They buried it under the doorway of a temple in the capital,

把它埋在首都一座寺庙的门洞下面，

so that worshippers would step on it as they crossed the threshold.

以便朝拜者跨过门槛时可以踩上它。

After brokering peace with the Romans, Kush continued to prosper.

在与罗马人达成和平协议后， 库什继续繁荣。

Over time, however, groups of people called the Noba raided from the west,

然而，随着时间的推移， 一群叫做Noba的人从西部发动袭击，

and trade routes were disrupted by the rising kingdom of Aksum.

贸易路线被崛起的阿克苏姆王国中断。

Around 350 CE, the Aksumite king sacked Meroe,

大约在公元350年， 阿克苏姆国王洗劫了梅罗，

effectively bringing Kushite rule to an end.

有效地结束了库施的统治。

Since then, some have argued that Kush’s history has been overlooked

从那以后，一些人认为库什的历史

被几代欧洲和美国学者忽视了，

by generations of European and American scholars

who promoted the idea that Egypt was part of the origin of Western civilization,

他们宣扬埃及是 西方文明起源的一部分，

while Kush, as an African culture, was excluded.

而库什这非洲文化被排除在外。

Today, there’s still much to learn about Kush—

至今，关于库什 还有很多东西需要了解——

including a writing system we haven’t deciphered fully.

包括我们还没有完全破译的书写系统。