国家地理-2008-09-29 凯撒里亚的海底博物馆

 

An underwater museum is open for visitors off the coast of Israel in the ancient town of Caesarea. The Port of Caesarea was commissioned by Herod the Great, King of Judaea, and the harbor quickly became the main political and economic artery¹ of the Roman Empire. Recent archaeological work that started in the 1950s brought the partially² sunken port back to life, along with Caesarea’s above-ground wonders.

 

Today the land level and underwater archaeological treasures are open to visitors. Over the years, archaeologists have drawn³ four main diving paths, showcasing the best archaeological material discovered, from ancient anchors to shipwrecks⁴ and stones showing the wonders of Roman engineering and the techniques used to create the old harbor wall.

 

 “We cover practically all of the points that you can see on this map. All along the harbor walls, uh…each point is the point of interest. For example, some of the points relate to the engineering aspect of the wall. You can see the different ways the engineers, the different techniques the engineers used to create this huge harbor wall. Some of them relate to cargo⁵ that ancient ships brought, and for some reason they sank.”

 

The desire to capture the secrets and principles of Roman harbor installations and compare them to those of the Greeks and Phoenicians inspired Professor Avner Raban and his team to start underwater excavations⁶ in Caesarea in 1975.

 

“After he died, I think it was my duty as a resident of this area and as a colleague, of Professor Raban to make his lifework known to the public whatever, I think this is….it’s the only underwater archaeological park in the world. In Professor Raban's time, we marked about between 20 and 30 points of interest and we've got professional divers⁷ to mark them with poles, with metal poles. We attached numbers to the poles and there was also a rope leading from one pole to the next. So if the visibility is not perfect, the divers can direct themselves with the rope from one point of interest to the next.”

 

Theories abound⁸ as to why Herod Caesarea port sank. Some theories suggest an earthquake may have been the cause, while others suggest it was simply due to the passage of time. Arenson indicates she thinks the port collapsed⁹ under its own heavy weight as the planners built such huge structures on frail¹⁰ sandy ground.

 

Commission：to officially ask sb. to write, make or create sth. or to do a task for you

Passage: the process of elapsing

Frail: something that is frail is easily damaged or broken

Herod the Great: 希律大帝一世, 罗马帝国在耶路撒冷的代理王。他在位期间不惜劳民伤财，大兴土木。地中海岸边的凯撒利亚(Caesarea)堪称他的得意之作，从公元前22年开始动工，历时12载方才建成，集希腊和罗马风格于一体，气势恢宏，极尽奢华。希律堡(Herodium)是其最为壮观的皇宫城堡，也是他指定的自己死后埋葬之地。

1 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

2 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 shipwrecks   

海难，船只失事( shipwreck的名词复数 )； 沉船

参考例句：

• Shipwrecks are apropos of nothing. 船只失事总是来得出人意料。
• There are many shipwrecks in these waters. 在这些海域多海难事件。

5 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

6 excavations   

n.挖掘( excavation的名词复数 )；开凿；开凿的洞穴（或山路等）；（发掘出来的）古迹

参考例句：

• The excavations are open to the public. 发掘现场对公众开放。
• This year's excavations may reveal ancient artifacts. 今年的挖掘可能会发现史前古器物。 来自辞典例句

7 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

8 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。