遗失的法老城市02

消失的法老城市

　　This magnificent ancient capital was built 3000 years ago by the Egyptianpharaoh Ramesses the Great, but long ago the it disappeared. When finallyrediscovered by early archaeologists, it opened up a bizarre puzzle -because when Piramesse was finally found, it was in the wrong place -somewhere Ramesses the Great could not possibly have built itAnd at the heart of the city (hall), Ramesses built a massive army garrisonhousing thousands of soldiers, charioteers and horsemen. His garrison¹ wouldhave had stabling of hundreds of warhorses and chariots, and it was from Pi-Ramesse that the pharaoh rolled out to his greatest battles.
Ramesses the Great never stopped adding to his capital. Year after year, newstatues of the pharaoh were erected² all through the city. A production lineof skilled craftsmen³ and workers was employed throughout his reign⁴ to addand embellish⁵ new statues and monuments. As home to the king and seat ofpower, Pi-Ramesse must have looked as if it would last forever. But just acouple of hundred years after it was built, the entire city vanished.
For thousands of years, Pi-Ramesse was utterly⁶ lost and the fate of thisgreat city became the stuff of legend. The quest to find it again wouldbaffle experts and provide one of the strangest twists in the history ofarchaeology.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, Egyptologists were puzzled. Mostof the great cities of the pharaohs' had already been discovered, all exceptthe famous Pi-Ramesse.
"It'll become almost a holy grail of Egyptologists to actually try and findthis fabulous⁷ city."Everyone knew from the ancient texts that Ramesses II didn't build his newcapital near the great temples at Karnak and Luxor, the traditional seats ofpower of ancient Egypt. Nor did he built it at ancient Memphis near present-day Cairo where the great pyramids lay. Instead, he built it where he'dbeen raised, the lush Nile Delta⁸ where the river fans out into branches thatflow down to the Mediterranean⁹ Sea. The texts were clear: Ramesses had builthis city on the easternmost branch of the Nile in the Delta.
holy grail: often not capitalized an object or goal that is sought after forits great significance

1 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

2 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

3 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。

4 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

5 embellish   

v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰

参考例句：

• I asked him not to embellish the truth with ideas of his own.我要他不对事实添油加醋。
• Can you embellish your refusal just a little bit?你可以对你的婉拒之辞略加修饰吗？

6 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

7 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。