新奇事件簿 埃及考古学家发现“死亡之城”

Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a huge cemetery¹ hidden under the sands south of Cairo. The 2,000-year-old necropolis was found south of Egypt's capital in the Nile Valley city of Minya. The word necropolis is from ancient Greek and means "city of the dead". The necropolis contains thousands of artifacts, including coffins³ and statues. Archaeologists started excavation⁴ work on the site late last year. They found tombs belonging to priests of Thoth. He was the ancient god of the moon and wisdom. Thoth was also believed to be the inventor of writing. Egypt's Antiquities⁵ Minister, Khaled al-Anani, said: "We will need at least five years to work on the necropolis. This is only the beginning of a new discovery."

埃及考古学家发现在开罗南部的沙地下隐藏着一个巨大的墓地。在明亚省尼罗河谷地的埃及首都南部发现了两千年前的大墓地。大墓地一词源于古希腊语，指的是“死亡之城”。大墓地中包含千件史前古器物，包括棺材和雕像。考古学家于去年底开始挖土工程。他们发现了属于透特祭司的墓穴。透特是古代月亮和智慧之神。他被认为是书写发明者。埃及文物部长阿纳尼表示：“我们需要至少五年的时间进行大墓地的挖掘工作。而这只是新发现的开始而已。”

Mostafa Waziri, the head of the archaeological dig, said he was very excited about the contents of the site. He said he and his colleagues have uncovered eight tombs so far. He expects many more to be found soon. The tombs contain a wealth of historic treasures. One tomb includes more than 1,000 statues and four pottery⁶ jars that contain the remains⁷ of the internal organs of important ancient Egyptians. Mr Waziri also said there were 40 sarcophagi. A sarcophagus is a stone coffin² in which dead bodies were placed. Waziri hopes the new site will help to attract more tourists to Egypt. There has been a downturn in tourism since the revolution that took place there in 2011.

考古团团长Mostafa Waziri表示自己对这个墓址里边的文物很兴奋。他说到目前为止，自己和同事已发现了八个墓穴。他期待能够发现更多墓穴。墓穴中有大量的历史文物。其中一个墓穴就有一千多座雕像以及四只瓦罐，里边还留有重要古埃及人的内脏。Waziri还提到40座石棺。石棺是放置尸体的石椁。Waziri希望这个新墓址能帮助吸引更多游客来到埃及。自2011年爆发革命后，埃及旅游业一直处于低迷。

1 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

2 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

3 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

4 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

5 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

6 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。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。