纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 057海德薇玻璃杯（7）

I think many people, if shown this cold, would think it was a great piece of 1930s Art Deco, possibly from Scandinavia, and the Hedwig beakers certainly don't look like anything that was produced in medieval Europe. Which may well be why this extraordinary group of glasses was associated with a miracle. These beakers clearly don't belong to the world that they were found in. So where were they made? It's a question people have been asking for over two hundred years, and we may now be nearer an answer, because scientific analysis of this glass, and of other Hedwig beakers, shows that they were made not out of the potash glass of European tradition, but out of soda-ash glass, made on the coast of Lebanon and Syria.

The Hedwig beakers are so similar in shape, material and style that they must have been produced together, in a single workshop. And that workshop must have been in one of those coastal¹ cities; the glass was almost certainly made by Muslim craftsmen². We know that at this period lots of Islamic glass was made for export to Europe; Damascus glass appears in the inventories³ of many medieval treasuries⁴, and Acre, the main trading centre of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, was the principal port for this trade. Here's Historian of the Crusades, Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith:

这款杯子与制作于中世纪欧洲的任何玻璃制品都大相径庭，也许正是因此才会有人把它们与神迹联系起来。发现玻璃杯的地点当然不会是它们的原产地。在逾两百年的时间里，人们一直在探究其出产地。如今我们可能离真相更近了一步，因为经科学分析发现，这十来个海德薇玻璃杯的材质并非欧洲传统的钾玻璃，而是现代以色列、黎巴嫩和叙利亚沿海一带出产的钠玻璃。

它们在形状、质地和风格上都很相似，这表明它们应该是在同一间作坊里批量制作的。这间作坊一定位于上述地区的某个沿海城市里，制作者几乎肯定是位穆斯林。当时伊斯兰世界大量生产玻璃制品并出口到欧洲，“大马士革玻璃”曾是中世纪财宝清单上常见的条目。位于耶路撒冷的十字军王国的贸易中心阿卡是这项买卖最重要的口岸。对于当时的情景，研究十字军的历史学家乔纳森·赖利-史密斯教授有如下描述：

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

3 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

4 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网