世界小史 第29章:俄赛里斯

 　　Would you like to know how to write using hieroglyphs¹?

　　你想知道如何用象形文字书写吗？

　　In fact, learning this sort of writing must have been incredibly hard, as it's more like constructing a picture puzzle.

　　事实上，这种书写确实不容易学会，因为这情形跟猜画像十分相似。

　　If they wanted to write the name of their god, Osiris, they would draw a throne,

　　如果他们想写他们的神俄赛里斯的名字，他们会画一个王座，

　　which was pronounced 'Oos', and an eye,

　　发音为"Oos"，再画一只眼睛，

　　which was pronounced 'iri', so that the two together made 'Os-iri'.

　　发音为"iri"，所以这两者合在一起就是"Os-iri"。

　　And to make sure that no one thought they meant 'Throne-eye', they often drew a little flag beside it.

　　为了不使人以为这是王座和眼睛的意思，人们往往还在旁边加上一面小旗。

　　Which meant that person was a god.

　　表明那个人是一个神。

　　In the same way that Christians² used to draw a cross after a name, if they wanted to show that that person was dead.

　　就像基督徒在一个人的名字后面画一个叉，如果他们想表示那个人已经死了。

1 hieroglyphs   

n.象形字（如古埃及等所用的）( hieroglyph的名词复数 )；秘密的或另有含意的书写符号

参考例句：

• Hieroglyphs are carved into the walls of the temple. 寺庙的墙壁上刻着象形文字。 来自辞典例句
• This paper discusses the fundamental distinctions between the hieroglyphs andforerunner of writing. 英汉象形文字的比较是建立在象形文字具体内涵的基础上。 来自互联网

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。