1. Tutankhamun's tomb, Egypt.埃及图坦卡蒙法老墓
When it comes to treasure troves, it's hard to beat the tomb of this Egyptian pharaoh. Its discovery had all the ingredients of the intrepid expedition: an old-school British archaeologist (Howard Carter), rumors of a curse, and a treasure so vast that it took about a decade to empty the tomb. It was unearthed in 1922 after a seven-year hunt in Egypt's Valley of Kings. There, Carter found several secret chambers containing gilded statues, gold coffins and the pharaoh's iconic burial mask, which is now displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
埃及图坦卡蒙(Tutankhamun)法老墓中发现的一口镀金石棺。探险队在埃及的国王谷搜索了七年时间,才在1922年发现了这座法老墓。在那里,卡特发现了几个密室,里面藏有镀金塑像、金棺和法老下葬时佩戴的标志性面具,目前这个面具陈列在位于开罗的埃及博物馆内。
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2. The Dead Sea Scrolls, Israel.以色列的《死海古卷》
The collection of scrolls, which include several of the oldest known Hebrew biblical texts, was first discovered in 1947 by Bedouin shepherds in caves northwest of the Dead Sea, in what today is Israel's West Bank. A total of around 900 scrolls were found in later years. The Dead Sea Scrolls offer the most extensive testimony of religious life in the first century, a crucial time for the development of Christianity and modern Judaism.
在以色列一个实验室,一位专家在检查《死海古卷》的碎片。这个古卷系列记载了目前已知的最古老的希伯来文圣经经文,最早出土于1947年,是贝都因牧羊人在死海西北部的洞穴里发现的,如今,这里被称为以色列西岸。在随后几年里,总共有大约900卷经书被发掘出来。《死海古卷》为我们提供了关于公元一世纪时期宗教生活的最为详尽的描述,公元一世纪是基督教和现代犹太教发展的关键时期。
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3.Bactrian Gold, Afghanistan. 阿富汗大夏金器
In 1978 a group led by a Soviet archaeologist stumbled upon burial mounds in northern Afghanistan containing golden artifacts that were traced to Bactria, a nomadic civilization which surrendered to the armies of Alexander the Great. But as the country slid into war, the treasure -- originally kept at Kabul's National Museum -- was shifted to a vault in the presidential palace and controlled by a central bank official. The treasure was rediscovered in 2004. The hoard, which has traveled extensively, is based in Kabul's National Museum.
阿富汗大夏金器1978年,一位苏联考古学家率领的考古队在阿富汗北部偶然发现了藏有金器的古墓群,这些金器可以追溯至大夏时期,这是一个被亚历山大大帝征服的游牧文明。但是,在阿富汗陷入战乱后,这些最初保存在喀布尔国家博物馆中的财宝被转移到总统府的一个地下保险库中,并由一位央行官员负责看管。2004年,这些金器终于重见天日。这批曾经四处漂泊的宝藏目前存放在喀布尔国家博物馆内。
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4.The Domus Aurea, Italy. 意大利金宫
The Domus Aurea, Latin for golden house, is the largest palace known to have been build in ancient Rome. The artists had enough time to draw replicas of the frescos that decorated its walls before humidity got the best of them. Emperor Nero started building the Domus Aurea after 64 A.D., when a fire almost wiped out the city in its entirety. After his death, his successors wanted to leave no trace of the palace and buried it.
Domus Aurea在拉丁语中是“金屋”的意思,它铺张地采用大理石、马赛克、壁画和粉饰灰泥做装饰,是目前已知的古罗马时期规模最大的宫殿。在用于装饰 壁的大部分壁画被湿气破坏以前,这些艺术家有足够的时间把它们临摹了下来。公元64年,一场大火几乎烧毁了整座罗马城,随后尼禄开始兴建这座金宫。在尼禄死后,他的继位者不想留下任何关于这座宫殿的痕迹,于是把它掩埋起来。
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5. Treasure of Nimrud, Iraq.伊拉克尼姆鲁德宝藏
In 1988 an Iraqi archeologist unearthed golden jewelry, ornaments and other precious Assyrian artifacts. They were exhibited at Baghdad's National Museum for just a few months before Iraq invaded Kuwait and the treasure had to be stashed away in a secret location. After that, little was known of the treasure. Many feared it had been looted, sold or blown up in missile strikes. It wasn't until June 2003 that a delegation of museum staff and U.S. officials found the treasure, intact, in five waterlogged wooden crates in a basement of a bombed out building of the central bank.
1988年,一位伊拉克考古学家发掘出了黄金珠宝、装饰品和其他珍贵的亚述时期器物。它们只在巴格达的国家博物馆展出了几个月,然后伊拉克入侵科威特,这批财宝不得不被转移隐藏到一个秘密的场所。从此以后,这批财宝几乎杳无音讯。许多人担心它们已被人劫掠、售卖或者被导弹炸毁。直到2003年6月,一个由博物馆工作人员和美国官员组成的代表团才在被炸毁的央行大楼地下室里找到了这批财宝,它们被完好无损地装在五个浸饱了水的木板箱中。