人们在这里找到了一大批墓穴，它们大约跟埃及的齐阿普斯金字塔建造的时期相同。

But while the pyramid was empty, these tombs were packed with the most astonishing treasures.

但是金字塔是空的，而这些墓穴里装满了最令人惊奇的珍宝。

Dazzling gold headdresses and gold vessels for sacrifices, gold helmets and gold daggers set with semi-precious stones.

有精美的金头饰和盛献祭品的金器皿，金头盔以及镶有半宝石的和金匕首，精致的竖琴，

Magnificent harps decorated with bulls' heads, and–would you believe it–a game-board, beautifully crafted and patterned like a chessboard.

它们用牛头作装饰，还有——你相信吗？——还找到了一个棋盘，上面有棋盘的方格图案，镶嵌工艺十分精美。

The explorer who found these treasures took many of them to England, where you can see them in the British Museum.

探险家把许多发现的珍宝带回来了英格兰，你可以在大英博物馆里见到它们。

Others are in the University of Pennsylvania and the Museum of Baghdad in Iraq.

其他的珍宝在宾夕法尼亚大学和伊拉克的巴格达博物馆。

They also found round seals and inscribed clay tablets in those tombs.

人们也在这些墓穴里找到了圆形印章和刻有铭文的泥板。

However, the inscriptions were not in hieroglyphs, but in a totally different script that was, if anything, even harder to decipher.

但它不是象形文字，而是另一种文字，这种文字几乎更难辨认。

This was because pictures had been replaced by neatly incised single strokes ending in a small triangle, or wedge.

因为它不再使用图画，而是单一的尖笔画，它们看上去就像三角形或楔形物。