Why was the Rosetta Stone so important? - Franziska Naether

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: 麗玲 辛

For centuries, scholars puzzled over the hieroglyphs

幾百年以來，學者一直看不懂

刻在古埃及遺跡、石板， 和莎草紙上的象形文字。

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

But a unique discovery would finally help unlock their meaning.

後來，一個獨特的發現 終於讓我們解開了它們的意義。

In 1799, as the French military invaded Egypt,

1799 年，法國軍隊入侵埃及時，

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

一名軍官在拉希德（羅塞塔） 郊區發現了一塊奇怪的石頭。

It was inscribed with three different portions of text:

石頭上刻有三段不同的文字，包括：

Egyptian hieroglyphs, which is the oldest Egyptian script,

埃及象形文字， 它是最古老的埃及文字，

dating back some 5,000 years;

可追溯到五千年前；

Demotic Egyptian, which is a later derivative of Egyptian;

世俗體埃及文，它是埃及文 後期衍生出來的形式；

and Ancient Greek.

還有古希臘文。

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

似乎每一段都是 其他段落的大略翻譯，

meaning the stone presented an unprecedented key

這意味著這塊石頭提供了 一個前所未有的關鍵，

to unlocking hieroglyphs.

可以用來譯解象形文字。

English troops soon intercepted the stone

英國軍隊很快就攔截了這塊石頭，

and brought it to the British Museum in 1802,

在 1802 年將它帶到大英博物館，

where it became one of the most popular displays.

成為該博物館最受歡迎的展品之一。

Various European scholars—

數名歐洲學者——

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

包括約翰‧奧克布拉德、湯馬斯‧楊，

以及尚—法蘭索瓦‧商博良——

worked to decode the Egyptian scripts.

都投入譯解埃及文字系統的工作。

There were some crucial initial clues.

石頭上有一些重要的初始線索。

The Greek section included the names of royal figures,

希臘文的段落內容中 有皇室人物的名字，

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

世俗體的段落中有類似括號的形狀，

and some hieroglyphic sections were encircled.

而象形文字的段落中 則是有些區段被圈起來。

Could these portions encode the same royal names?

這些部分有可能代表 相同的皇家人物姓名嗎？

Åkerblad matched some characters up and, in 1802,

奧克布拉德配對了一些 文字符號，在 1802 年，

successfully decoded the royal names and some simple words,

成功譯解了皇室人物姓名

和世俗體的一些簡單字詞， 如「非常」和「神殿」。

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

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

奧克布拉德因此認為， 所有世俗體符號都是字母型的，

meaning each letter represented a discrete sound—

意即，每個字母代表 一個獨立的發音——

much like in English.

和英文很類似。

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

相對的，湯瑪斯‧楊則懷疑 有些世俗體的符號是表意文字——

that is, symbols encoding entire words or phrases.

也就是說，它們是整個單詞 或短語的象徵符號。

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

比如，他認為日輪加上一條線 表示太陽或太陽神。

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

在大約 1814 年，

他破解了一些重複出現的世俗體字詞，

如「法老」和「埃及」。

Young also had the critical insight

楊還有一項很重要的見解：

that Demotic was a later iteration of hieroglyphs.

世俗體是象形文字的後期版本。

And, studying the hieroglyphic text,

而且，在研究象形文字時，

Young successfully decoded the royal name “Ptolemy.”

楊成功地破解了 皇家人物姓名「托勒米」。

But he still believed the prevailing misconception

但他仍然認為大部分人都誤解了，

that most hieroglyphs were logograms representing ideas— not sounds.

誤認為大多數象形文字都是代表 想法或概念的表意文字，而非發音。

Using his knowledge of other scripts and languages,

商博良運用他對 其他文字和語言的了解，

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

比如他向一位科普特基督教神父 學來的埃及科普特語，

Champollion realized that most encircled hieroglyphs were phonetic.

他發現大部分被圈起來的 象形文字都是表音文字。

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

它們代表發音： 埃及禿鷹的發音是 “a”；

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

三張狐狸皮的發音是 “m-s” 等等。

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

這終於讓他讀出了埃及姓名 「拉美西斯」及「圖特姆斯」。

Cross-referencing other hieroglyphic texts,

交叉比對其他象形文字文本後，

Champollion confirmed that many hieroglyphs

商博良確定除了圈起來的姓名之外， 還有很多象形文字是表音文字。

beyond the encircled names were phonetic.

And on September 14th, 1822,

1822 年九月十四日，

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

他跑到他兄弟的家中， 宣佈了這項突破。

Later, Champollion determined that beyond alphabetic and logographic hieroglyphs,

後來，商博良確定除了 字母型和表意型的象形文字之外，

some were classifiers that sorted words into categories,

還有一些是分類符號， 用來把字詞歸入不同類別，

like occupations, plants, and abstract concepts.

比如職業、植物，和抽象概念。

The first complete translation of the Rosetta Stone

羅塞塔石碑的第一版完整翻譯

was finally published in the early 1850s.

終於在 1850 年代初發表。

So, what did it actually say?

那麼，石碑上到底寫了什麼？

The inscription was marked 196 BCE.

這段銘文標記的是公元前 196 年。

It honored the first anniversary

內容是在紀念十三歲的法老 托勒密五世加冕一周年，

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

and outlined a series of benefits for the Egyptian priesthood.

也概述了埃及 祭司階層的一系列福利。

The inscriptions described laws for maintaining temples

這段銘文描述了維修寺廟 和執行儀式的法律，

and performing rituals,

like the burial of sacred animals.

比如神聖動物的埋葬。

At the time, Egypt was a multicultural society.

在當時，埃及是個多文化的社會。

Two main languages were spoken:

使用的語言主要有兩種：

Ancient Greek, brought by Egypt’s conquerors,

埃及征服者帶來的古希臘文，

and Demotic Egyptian, the native language.

和母語世俗體埃及文。

Hieroglyphs represented Middle Egyptian,

象形文字代表中古埃及文，

a language that was already antiquated but may have been included

這是舊時語言，沒人在用了， 但可能為了傳達權威感，才放上石碑。

to convey a sense of authority.

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

該法令被複製到許多石碑上， 並立在神殿中。

However, as regimes shifted,

然而，隨著政權轉換，

edifices were deconstructed and reconstructed.

建築物被拆除及重建。

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

有些學者認為羅塞塔石碑最初 是放置在薩伊斯的一座神殿裡。

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

目前還不知道它怎麼會 出現在八十公里外，

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

但可能是在十五世紀末期後 被運往尼羅河上游。

Once deciphered, hieroglyphs helped overturn misconceptions.

破解後的象形文字 幫我們推翻了某些錯誤觀念。

Subterranean chambers within Egyptian pyramids

埃及金字塔內的地下密室

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

曾被認為是祭司 啟蒙和研究的秘密場所。

But it was finally confirmed that pyramids were tombs

最後終於確認，金字塔是墳墓，

housing sacred preparations for the afterlife.

用來為來世做神聖的準備工作。

Soon, entire texts could be translated that showcased

沒多久，全文被翻譯出來，

呈現出古埃及宗教結構的複雜性。

the complexity of ancient Egyptian religious compositions.

Experts are still decoding new hieroglyphs as they arise

專家仍在譯解新發現的象形文字，

and untangling instances of tricky grammar and wordplay.

試圖整理棘手的文法和文字遊戲。

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

羅塞塔石碑揭示了世界上 最古老的書寫語言之一，

and the vibrant history it emerged from.

以及其中富含的生動歷史。

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

然而，至今，這件被搶奪的文物 仍在他鄉，離原產地很遙遠。