埃及出土古代狮子、鳄鱼和猫的木乃伊

埃及出土古代狮子、鳄鱼和猫的木乃伊

Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed a rare mummy menagerie, including the wrapped remains of cats, crocodiles, scarabs, cobras and two lion cubs.

考古学家在埃及发现了一个罕见的木乃伊动物园，包括包裹着的猫、鳄鱼、圣甲虫、眼镜蛇和两只小狮子的遗骸。

The discovery was made in the tomb of a 7th century royal priest in Saqqara, south of Cairo, according to Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s minister of antiquities.

据埃及文物部长Khaled El-Enany称，这一发现是在开罗南部的Saqqara的一个7世纪的皇家牧师的坟墓中发现的。

The collection — 25 small wooden mummy caskets adorned with hieroglyphics, along with 75 more boxes filled with wooden and bronze statues of Egyptian deities — could make-up a “museum by itself,” El-Enany said Saturday.

埃尔-埃纳尼周六表示，这些藏品——25个装饰着象形文字的木制小木乃伊棺材，以及另外75个装满了木制和青铜埃及神像的盒子——可以“单独组成一个博物馆”。

The archeologists report that the artifacts date back to the 36th dynasty, considered ancient Egypt’s renaissance era.

考古学家报告说，这些文物可以追溯到第36王朝，被认为是古埃及的文艺复兴时期。

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities shared information about the findings on the Facebook over the this weekend. The most extraordinary pieces, according to the ministry’s secretary general Mostafa Waziri, is the five preserved big cats, which CT-scans revealed were lion cubs.

本周末，埃及古物部在Facebook上分享了关于这些发现的信息。据文化部秘书长穆斯塔法·瓦兹里称，最特别的是5只保存完好的大猫，ct扫描显示它们是小狮子。

Researchers pointed out that this would have been considered prized and extremely rare pets during that period, pointing to a 2004 discovery of a lion skeleton by French Egyptologist Alain Zivie, who then proved the lion’s high regard in ancient Egypt.

研究人员指出，在那个时期，狮子被认为是非常珍贵和罕见的宠物。2004年，法国埃及古物学家阿兰·齐维(Alain Zivie)发现了一具狮子骨架，证明了狮子在古埃及的崇高地位。

The “meticulously mummified” animals were found buried alongside dozens of animal statuettes made of sandstone, wood and bronze, such as 75 cats of various shapes and sizes; sculptures of the apis bull deity, a mongoose, ibis, falcon and the god Anubis, formed with the body of a man and head of a jackal.

这些“精心制作的动物木乃伊”与数十个动物雕像一起被发现埋葬，这些动物雕像由砂岩、木材和青铜制成，比如75只不同形状和大小的猫;阿比斯牛神、猫鼬、朱鹭、猎鹰和阿奴比斯神的雕像，由人的身体和豺狼的头组成。

The dig also unearthed a “large” stone-carved scarab beetle, a sacred symbol of rebirth in ancient Egypt, plus two more small smaller versions made of wood and sandstone, as well as several other amulets made of wood and clay.

这次挖掘还出土了一个“大”石雕圣甲虫，它是古埃及重生的神圣象征，另外还有两个更小的版本，由木头和砂岩制成，以及其他几个由木头和粘土制成的护身符。

Enlarge ImageDeities featured in the cache included 73 bronze figurines of the god Osiris; six wooden statues of god Ptah-Soker, 11 wooden and ceramic statues of the lioness god Sekhmet; and goddess Neith wearing the crown of Lower Egypt.

放大隐藏的神像包括73个奥西里斯神的青铜雕像;6个Ptah-Soker神的木制雕像，11个Sekhmet神的木制和陶制雕像;女神妮斯戴着下埃及的王冠。

The animals remains were found at the Saqqara necropolis near the Giza pyramids, which also houses the 4,400-year-old, “exceptionally well preserved” tomb of ancient priest Wahtye, according to the Ministry of Antiquities, and the recently excavated mummification workshop dating as far back as 664 B.C.

这些动物的遗骸是在吉萨金字塔附近的塞加拉墓地发现的，那里还有4400年历史的古牧师瓦赫提的“保存非常完好”的坟墓，据古物部说，还有最近发掘的木乃伊制作作坊，可以追溯到公元前664年。