History vs. Egypt’s "most powerful" pharaoh - Jessica Tomkins

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: 麗玲 辛

Pharaoh Ramesses II reigned for almost 70 years

法老拉美西斯二世

在西元前十三世紀時 在位統治了近七十年。

in the 13th century BCE.

He presided over a golden age of Egyptian prosperity.

他領導了埃及繁榮的黃金時代。

But was he a model leader,

但，他是模範領導者，

or a shameless egomaniac and master of propaganda?

還是無恥的自戀狂和宣傳大師？

Order! Order! Who do we have on the stand? Ramesses II?

肅靜！肅靜！在證人席上的 是誰？拉美西斯二世？

Ahem, I believe you mean "The strong bull, protector of Egypt,

嗯哼，我相信你指的 是「強壯的公牛，

征服外邦的埃及保護者；

who subdues foreign lands;

rich in years, great in victories, chosen by Ra— whose justice is powerful—

年事已高，戰績彪炳，

由太陽神拉選中—— 其正義很強大——

Ramesses, beloved of Amun."

拉美西斯，阿蒙的寵兒。」

But you may refer to him as Ramesses the Great.

但你可以稱他為拉美西斯大帝。

Ramesses, Ramesses— I think I've heard of him.

拉美西斯，拉美西斯—— 我想我有聽過他。

"Let my people go!"

「放我的人民走吧！」

Yes, Your Honor, he was the infamously stubborn pharaoh of Exodus,

是，庭上，他是《出埃及記》中 聲名狼藉的固執法老，

who forced enslaved Hebrews

他強迫被奴役的希伯來人 建造他奢華的首都，皮拉美西斯。

to build out his extravagant capital city of Pi-Ramesses.

Objection, there's no archaeological evidence

抗議，沒有考古證據可證明

that Ramesses used forced labor in his construction projects.

拉美西斯在他的建築計畫中 強迫勞工工作。

Egyptians relied on highly trained artisans and craftsmen

埃及人是靠訓練有素的工匠及技工

to build their cities and monuments.

來建造他們的城市和紀念碑。

And menial labor, like quarrying and moving stones,

而採石和搬運石頭等粗活

was done by military soldiers and foreign mercenaries—

都交給軍隊士兵 及外國傭兵來做——

all of whom were compensated for their work.

他們做這些工作都有拿到報酬。

So he's not the pharaoh from Exodus?

所以他不是《出埃及記》中的法老？

It's hard to say for certain.

很難肯定。

According to some timelines,

根據一些大事紀時間表， 那個法老最有可能是拉美西斯。

Ramesses is the best candidate for that particular pharaoh.

But there's no evidence of any Hebrew population in Egypt during his reign,

但沒有證據證明在他統治期間 有任何希伯來人在埃及，

and certainly no records of a revolution or mass migration

當然也沒有任何記錄記載到革命

或像《出埃及記》中 描述的大規模遷徒。

like the one described in Exodus.

Is that really so surprising?

這沒什麼好驚訝的吧？

It's not like Ramesses kept records of any other time he was defeated.

拉美西斯又不會把他 打的任何敗仗都記錄下來。

What do you mean?

你的意思是？

我們這位「偉大」的法老

Our "great" pharaoh here operated one of the largest propaganda machines

操控著古代歷史上 最大的宣傳機器之一。

in ancient history.

Almost all pharaohs relied on propaganda to control their country,

幾乎所有的法老都靠宣傳 來控制他們的國家，

and Ramesses had particularly big sandals to fill.

而拉美西斯又得承襲 特別強大的前任法老。

His father, Seti I, led Egypt to a period of great wealth and stability

他的父親塞提一世

領導埃及進入一段 非常富有且穩定的時期，

that Ramesses worked hard to maintain.

拉美西斯很努力要讓它持續下去。

Through propaganda, yes, but also military glory.

透過宣傳，是的， 此外還有軍事榮耀。

More like military aggression.

更像是軍事侵略。

By the end of Seti's reign,

在塞提統治時期的尾聲，

he had established peace with the neighboring Hittites

他已經和相鄰的赫人建立了和平。

by guaranteeing Egyptian control over a sought-after region called Kadesh.

因為他保證埃及會控制 加低斯這個很受歡迎的地方。

But in the fifth year of his reign, Ramesses broke those agreements.

但拉美西斯在接手統治的 第五年，就破壞了那些協議。

It wasn't the most peaceful decision,

這不是最和平的决定，

but Ramesses believed a military victory would aid his efforts

但拉美西斯認為軍事上的勝利 能有助於他恢復埃及的名譽。

to restore Egypt's reputation.

And he was right!

而且他是對的！

His victory over the Hittites cemented Ramesses' persona

拉美西斯打敗了赫人，

鞏固了他英勇古代法老的形象。

as a heroic pharaoh of old.

Yeah, except he didn't even win!

是，不過他甚至沒有贏。

His supposed victory was actually a stalemate

他所謂的勝利其實是個僵局，

in which the pharaoh's arrogance almost cost Egypt the entire war.

在這個僵局裡，法老的傲慢 差點害埃及輸掉整個戰爭。

When two Hittite spies told Ramesses the enemy had fled in fear,

當赫人間諜告訴拉美西斯 敵人已經因恐懼而逃亡了，

he let his guard down, allowing his men to be ambushed.

他放下了警戒心， 讓他的人馬受到伏擊。

He played right into the Hittite's trap and almost lost everything.

他完全中了赫人的陷阱， 幾乎失去了一切。

Yet the official story Ramesses had chiseled across Egypt

但，拉美西斯用來 欺騙全埃及的官方故事

cast himself as the battle's greatest hero.

把他說成是該戰役中最偉大的英雄。

Military achievements were important for legitimizing a pharaoh's power,

要讓法老的權力有正當理由， 軍事成就是非常重要的，

even if that meant a bit of exaggeration.

就算是要誇大一點也沒關係。

A bit? You can't trust anything this guy says!

一點？這傢伙說的話全都不能信啊！

If it wasn't for the Hittite's conflicting record,

若不是從赫人的記錄中發現矛盾，

we'd still be buying Ramesses' propaganda.

我們還是會相信拉美西斯的宣傳。

I propose that this court cannot judge any historical figure's legacy

我建議法庭不可以單單 用歷史人物自己說的故事

by the stories they tell about themselves.

來判斷他們留下的成就。

That seems reasonable to me.

我覺得很合理。

Fair enough. How's this record then—

好吧。那這個記錄如何——

the first recorded peace treaty in archaeological history

考古學歷史上第一份 有留下記錄的和平協議，

signed by Ramesses and the Hittites.

是由拉美西斯和赫人簽署的。

"Peace treaty" is pretty generous.

說「和平協議」也太寬鬆了。

Ramesses begrudgingly agreed to a mutual defense contract,

拉美西斯是勉強同意簽署了 一份互相協防的合約，

where Egyptians and Hittites would work together if attacked by an external enemy.

當埃及人和赫人受到 外來敵人攻擊時會合作抵禦。

And what's wrong with that?

那有什麼問題？

This peaceful end to the conflict marked the beginning

這場衝突的和平結束，

也就是拉美西斯 繁榮統治時期的開端——

of Ramesses' prosperous reign—

a golden age of Egyptian power and wealth.

埃及在權力和財富上的黃金時期。

True, but we have no idea if this wealth trickled down to everyday Egyptians

但我們不知道這些財富 是否有惠及埃及平民，

or just financed Ramesses' vain attempts to achieve immortality through stone.

還是只被用來資助拉美西斯的虛榮， 讓他試圖透過石雕來達到永生。

He spent his entire reign pouring money into ego projects.

他在位時期都不斷把錢 投入到自負的計畫中。

And one of the most famous, Abu Simbel, wasn't even in Egypt!

阿布辛貝神殿是其中最有名的 計畫之一，甚至不在埃及境內。

Abu Simbel was in Nubia to showcase Egypt's strength

阿布辛貝神殿建在努比亞， 目的是要展示埃及的力量，

and discourage a Nubian revolution.

並遏阻努比亞革命。

Besides, pharaohs were expected to invest in building projects for the gods.

此外，大家都期望法老 會投資為神而做的建造計畫。

Right, "for the gods," which Ramesses was not.

是的，「為神」， 而拉美西斯不是神。

Pharaohs typically occupied a status between gods and mortals,

通常，法老的地位 是在神與凡人之間，

but the location of Ramesses' statue inside Abu Simbel

但在阿布辛貝神殿中， 拉美西斯雕像的位置

positions him as their supposed equal.

顯示他和神平起平坐。

He even tore down existing temples to reuse their bricks

他甚至拆除既有的神殿，

把這些磗塊用來建造 他自己的紀念碑。

in monuments to himself!

He tore down temples built by Akhenaten,

他拆除的神殿是阿肯那頓建造的，

a pharaoh who'd attempted to impose monotheism.

這位法老試圖強行實施一神教。

By destroying those temples,

摧毀這些神殿，

Ramesses reinforced his commitment to Egypt's traditional religion.

反而更張顯拉美西斯 對於埃及傳統宗教的支持。

That doesn't account for why he frequently erased other pharaohs' names on monuments

這無法解釋為什麼他常常把 其他法老在紀念碑上的名字抹除，

and replaced them with his own.

換成他自己的名字。

Hey, what the...?

嘿，搞什麼……

Even pharaohs who had short reigns had numerous statues made of themselves—

就連統治時間很短的法老 也有為自己建立紀念雕像——

and Ramesses ruled for almost seven decades.

而拉美西斯統治了近七十年。

Well, he definitely made a lasting impression.

他確實留下了很持久的印象。

Let's face it, Your Honor, would we even be talking about him today if he hadn't?

說真的，庭上，

若他沒這麼做，我們 今天還會在談論他嗎？

It's often said that history is written by the winners,

人們常說，歷史是由贏家所寫的，

but in this courtroom,

但在這個法庭上，

a winning record never guarantees the outcome.

勝利記錄卻無法保證 判決結果會如何。