古埃及的瑰宝（2014）

在它附近是整个吉萨遗址的不朽守护者
and near it is this monumental guardian to the entire site at Giza.
狮身人面像
It's the Great Sphinx.
很可能是按照他自己的特点雕刻的
It's probably carved with his own features,
美国作家马克·吐温说过：
and the American writer Mark Twain said,
“狮身人面像因孤独而雄伟”
"The Sphinx is grand in its loneliness;
“因其规模而壮观”
"it is imposing in its magnitude;
“故事的神秘感令人印象深刻”
"it is impressive in the mystery that hangs over its story."
所有这些都是真实的，文笔优美
All of which is true, beautifully written,
对我们对古埃及痴迷的精彩描述
a wonderful, evocative description of our obsession with ancient Egypt,
我还是觉得狮身人面像
but I still think that the Great Sphinx
显然是我的下一个宝藏
is a little bit obvious to be my next treasure.
事实上，我的第七个宝藏是在哈夫拉宏伟的山谷寺庙里发现的
In fact, my seventh treasure was found in Khafra's magnificent valley temple.
雪花石膏地板上的这些凹痕提供了线索
These indentations on the alabaster floor provide a clue.
一共有23座
There are 23 in all,
每座都是为了安放一尊国王的雕像…
and each one was designed to take a statue of the king...
这标志着雕塑艺术的惊人飞跃
which marked an astonishing leap forward in the art of sculpture.
这是23座哈夫拉坐像之一
Well, this is one of those 23 seated statues of Khafra,
它不仅是古王国的杰作
and it's one of the masterpieces not only of the Old Kingdom
也是埃及艺术的杰作之一
but also of Egyptian art as a whole.
这是王权的典型体现
It is the quintessential expression of kingship.
他看起来有天生的权威和指挥能力
He looks like he has such innate authority and command,
它是用闪长岩雕刻出来的
and its sculpted out of a stone called diorite,
一种非常坚硬的黑色石头
a very hard dark stone,
雕刻家尽力打磨它，所以你看到了石头的纹理
and the sculptor's managed to polish it up so you've got the grain of the stone,
很像斑驳的老虎条纹
almost like mottled tiger stripes.
看起来非常漂亮，他的躯干和脸也很漂亮
Very beautiful to look at, and in the case of his torso and his face,
显得柔软和光滑
appears soft and smooth.
经过深思熟虑
With great care and deliberation,
他们创造出了那种肌肉感…
they've created that sense of musculature...
但我最喜欢的细节是这里
but my favorite detail of all is up here,
猎鹰，神灵荷鲁斯
the falcon, the god Horus,
他展开翅膀
and he raises his wings
在国王的头上做保护姿势
in a protective gesture around the king's head.
它们好像融合了，一个融合在另一个里
It's as if they're fused, one's merging into the other,
这里传达的信息是哈夫拉国王是神圣的
and the message here is that the King Khafra is divine.
现代雕刻家内森·多斯惊讶于他的祖先
Modern sculptor Nathan Doss is amazed that his ancestors
能够雕刻出人类已知最坚硬的石头
were capable of carving some of the hardest stones known to man.
在我们的古代，唯一的金属是青铜
说实话，我不知道如何在花岗岩上使用青铜工具
当我参观博物馆时，我设身处地为雕塑家着想
当时的雕塑家与今天的雕塑家不同
他们依据自己的信仰工作，并为法老神像雕刻
我认为艺术家在雕刻之前会问自己很多问题
他选择坚硬的石头来挑战自己
我对他们的工作既羡慕又兴奋
作为一名现代埃及艺术家，我在自问是否能够延续这一遗产?
古埃及艺术家
The idea that ancient Egyptian artists
受他们的宗教信仰驱使的想法给了我很多解释
were driven by their religious beliefs explains a lot to me.
我们已见识了像荷鲁斯这样的动物是如何被认为拥有神力的
We've seen how animals like Horus were thought to have divine powers.
这意味着艺术家们擅长用各种不同的材料来描绘动物
This meant that artists excelled at portraying animals in a range of different materials,
包括雪花石膏和彩陶
including alabaster and faience pottery.
当联想到埃及宝藏时
When we think of Egyptian treasure,
我们往往会想到黄金
we tend to think of gold.
这是一种与法老和诸神有关的贵重金属
It was the precious metal associated with the pharaohs and the gods,
但从古王国流传下来的皇家金色雕像中，只有一个神
but no golden statues of the royals survive from the Old Kingdom, and only one deity,
就是它
and this is it.
这就是猎鹰荷鲁斯
It's Horus the falcon,
荷鲁斯是埃及最古老最重要的神之一
Horus being one of the oldest and most important of all the Egyptian gods,
它是在奈肯被发现的
and appropriately enough, this was discovered in Nekhen,
奈肯的意思是猎鹰之城
which means the City of the Falcon.
这显然是一件精致的金属制品
It is clearly an exquisite piece of metalwork,
制♥作♥精美，但我特别喜欢它的眼睛
beautifully made, but I particularly love the eyes,
黑曜石的眼睛，它似乎在旋转
the obsidian eyes, which almost appear to be swiveling,
寻找猎物，环顾四周
scoping for prey, looking around.
让这种鸟的头部变得非常警觉
It gives the head of this bird a real alertness,
但它也有一种傲慢的特质
but it also has an imperious quality.
就好像制♥作♥它的艺术家
So it's as if the artist who's made it,
和最优秀的金工在一起
who's up there with the finest gold workers of all time,
一直在密切观察大自然
has been closely observing nature
但同时也在尝试创造一些神圣的
but also trying to create something numinous,
像神一样的东西，一些你可以崇拜的东西
godlike, something that you could worship,
想想看，这是一块从古王国幸存下来的非常罕见的黄金
and to think this is one really rare piece of gold that survived from the Old Kingdom.
其它东西都被偷了，熔化了，回收了
Everything else was stolen, melted down, recycled.
这是一件伟大的作品
It's a sublime piece.
想象一下，曾经存在的一切
Imagine everything else that there once was
现在都消失了
which has now been lost.
这足以让你哭泣
It's enough to make you weep.
我们可能觉得奇怪，鸟类对埃及人来说意义如此重大
It may seem bizarre to us that a bird could mean so much to the Egyptians,
但从最早的时候起
but from the earliest times,
动物在艺术和宗教中扮演着重要角色
animals played a starring role in art and religion.
埃及人用动物与神交流
Woman: The Egyptians used animals to communicate with the gods
因为他们觉得动物可以说是
because they felt that the animals were sort of
进化的一种中间状态
an intermediate state of evolution, as it were.
所以人类可能处于较低的水平
So you have humans slightly on a lower level perhaps,
然后… 把牛称为神的人…
and then-- who are called cattle of the gods--
还有说秘密语言的动物
and then you have actual animals who speak the secret language
知道众神要做什么
and know what the gods are going to do
因为动物们非常善于知道大自然将要做什么
because the animals are very good at knowing what nature is going to do.
举个例子，狒狒在早上起来
So for example when the baboon stands up in the morning
它张开双臂，尖叫着，帮助太阳升起
and raises its arms and shrieks, it helps the sun to rise.
鳄鱼知道在洪水来临前在哪产卵
Crocodiles know where to lay the eggs before the inundation,
所以如果你想预测洪水
so if you want to predict the flood,
看看鳄鱼筑巢的地方
look and see where the crocodiles are building their nests.
猫是献给芭丝苔特女神的
Cats, dedicated to the goddess Bastet,
这只猫有些自我放纵和美丽
and the cat was sort of self-indulgent and beautiful,
芭丝苔特是自我放纵、美丽和爱的女神
and Bastet is the goddess of self-indulgence, beauty, and love,
如果你看这些雕像
and if you look at these statues,
你会发现这些动物都是经过精心雕刻的
you can see that animals are carved with great diligence.
这些华丽的作品在仔细观察之下
These gorgeous pieces are well-observed,
制♥作♥精美，栩栩如生
they're beautifully made, and they are astonishingly lifelike.
埃及艺术家在动物方面很出色
Egyptian artists were brilliant at animals.
当涉及到人类时
When it came to humans,
他们的工作更加严格和程式化
their work was a bit more rigid and stylized,
但埃及社会正在发生变化
but Egyptian society was changing.
第五王朝时期，大约在公元前2450年
During the Fifth Dynasty, round about 2450 B.C.,
一个全职的专业官僚机构应运而生
a full-time professional bureaucracy developed,
由数百名公务员和牧师组成
made up of hundreds of civil servants and priests,
这些人一开始都是平民
and these men started out as commoners,
但他们是追求地位的人
but they were social climbers,
他们对埃及的艺术进程产生了深远的影响
and they had a profound impact on the course of Egyptian art.
这种新贵艺术的最好例子
One of the best examples of this nouveau riche art
是在塞加拉发现的
was discovered at Saqqara.
这是我们第一次见到法老的臣民
For the first time, we can meet one of the pharaoh's subjects,
感觉就像和一个活生生的，呼吸着的远古世界的人面对面
and it feels like coming face to face with a living, breathing person, of the ancient world.
这是一个叫卡培尔的牧师的雕塑
This is a marvelous sculpture of a priest called Ka-aper.
相当高傲的人
Rather self-important man.
关于它的发现有一个有趣的故事
There's a lovely story about its discovery
因为发现它的埃及工人
because the Egyptian workmen who uncovered it
觉得他长得和他们当地的老板，他们的市长一模一样
felt that he was a dead ringer for their local boss, their mayor,
因此
and as a result,
这个雕塑从那时起就有了一个绰号♥，叫做谢赫·艾拜莱德
this sculpture's had a nickname ever since of Sheikh el-Beled,
意思是村长
meaning village head man.
这是用梧桐树雕刻的
It's been sculpted from sycamore.
整体都盖上了薄薄的一层灰泥，然后涂上了漆
The whole thing was covered with a thin layer of plaster and then painted,
但令我吃惊的是这座雕像
but what I find startling about this statue is that
充满了活力和生气
it's so full of vigor and animation,
这是一种朝向现实主义风格的姿态
there's a real gesture here towards a realistic style
这个男人的胸部
in the promise of his man boobs,
那个大肚子
in that great paunch,
甚至是矮胖的小腿和脚踝
even in the podgy lower legs and ankles.
他对自己很满意
He's quite pleased with himself.
这个男人
Here is a man
感觉自己正在跨越4500年的历史向我们大步迈进
who feels like he's striding towards us across 4,500 years of history,
也许不是在壮年
perhaps not in the prime of life
而是在中年的骄傲时刻