VOA慢速英语2015 死海古卷仍有我们需要学习的东西

AS IT IS 2015-03-30 Dead Sea Scrolls² Still Have Lessons to Teach 死海古卷仍有我们需要学习的东西

The documents known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered in the mid-20th century. They still have things to tell us about life and religious beliefs in ancient Israel.  An exhibit in Los Angeles shows how modern science is bringing the history of these ancient documents to life.

The exhibit of the scrolls is at the California Science Center until September 2015. It is the largest exhibit of the scrolls ever seen outside Israel.

Visitors learn that the scrolls are ancient documents. During the first century, they were hidden in caves in the modern-day West Bank. At that time, they needed protection from Roman troops coming to fight against Jewish rebels.

The scrolls were written over hundreds of years. They show the mixture of cultures in ancient Israel. Various Jewish religious groups lived together there with early Christians³.

David Siegel is the Consul⁴ General for Israel in Los Angeles. His office helped bring the exhibit to the city. Mr. Siegel says the documents include religious writings and Biblical texts. These texts are important to three faiths.

“When that shepherd in 1947 entered that cave and found these parchments, what he discovered were the earliest known manuscripts of the Bible.  So they're significant obviously to Jews, but they're also significant to Christians and they're significant to Muslims."

Diane Perlov is Executive Director for Exhibits at the California Science Center. She says scientists studied the manuscripts using modern techniques.  They pieced together thousands of pieces of parchment and papyrus⁵ into hundreds of documents.  She says they used different kinds of light to read hidden texts, and tested the material for dating.  

“Scientists used multi-spectral imaging, carbon 14 dating, DNA⁶ analysis and other tools to match up all these individual pieces to the same scroll¹, to read them.”

There are 20 Dead Sea Scrolls on display in the exhibit. Visitors can also see royal and ritual objects and items from daily life that span 1,200 years.  They include a small figure that might be Asherah. She was the mother goddess whom people worshipped in many areas of the ancient Near East.

The exhibit includes coins, pottery⁷, and a three-ton stone from the Western Wall. The Western Wall was part of the second Jewish temple that invading Romans destroyed in the year 70.  The objects show the range of cultures - Jewish, Greek and Roman - that sometimes led to conflicts.

Many experts are still studying the Dead Sea Scrolls, says Debora Ben-Ami of the Israeli Antiquities⁸ Authority.

 “We are showing a complete story, coming from the present, going back to the past, to a different time, to a different place, and then understanding all the context and all the importance of this history."

Ben-Ami says there are many questions that need to be answered. One of these questions is, who hid the scrolls?  Scientists and scholars are still working to learn from these ancient documents. 

Words in This Story

parchment - n. paper made from the skin of a sheep or goat

papyrus - n. paper made from papyrus, a tall plant that is like grass and that grows in marshes⁹, that was used in ancient times

multi-spectral imaging - the capture of image data at specific frequencies across the electromagnetic spectrum¹⁰

carbon 14 dating - determination of the age of objects of organic origin by measurement of their radiocarbon content.

dna analysis - the use of a DNA probe for the identification of an individual, as for the matching of genes¹¹

ritual - n. a formal ceremony or series of acts that is always performed in the same way

1 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

2 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

5 papyrus   

n.古以纸草制成之纸

参考例句：

• The Egyptians wrote on papyrus.埃及人书写用薄草纸。
• Since papyrus dries up and crumble,very few documents of ancient Egypt have survived.因草片会干裂成粉末所以古埃及的文件很少保存下来。

6 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

7 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

8 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

9 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

11 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪