a little history of the world: the land by the nile (3)
世界简史：尼罗河上的国家 （3）.
and yet the most important part of the egyptians’ strange religion was their belief that, although a man’s soul left his body when he died, for some reason the soul went on needing that body, and would suffer if it crumbled into dust.
然而，奇特的埃及宗教最重要的部分是他们相信，即使灵魂在死后离开了他的身体，出于某种原因，灵魂仍然需要这个身体，一旦身体化为尘土，灵魂就会受苦。
so they invented a very ingenious way of preserving the bodies of the dead.
因此，他们发明了一种非常巧妙的方法来保存死者的尸体。
they rubbed them with ointments and the juices of certain plants, and bandaged them with long strips of cloth, so that they wouldn’t decay.
他们用药膏和特定植物的汁液擦拭尸体，并用长布条紧紧地包扎以防止腐烂。
a body preserved in this manner is called a mummy.
以这种方式处理的尸体称为木乃伊。
and today, after thousands of years, these mummies are still intact.
数千年后的今天，这些木乃伊仍然完好无损。
a mummy was placed in a coffin made of wood, the wooden coffin in one of stone, and the stone one buried, not in the earth, but in a tomb that was chiselled out of the rock.
木乃伊被放置在木棺中，然后将其放入石棺中，石棺不是埋在地下，而是刻在岩石上的坟墓中。
if you were rich and powerful like king cheops, ‘son of the sun’, a whole stone mountain would be made for your tomb.
如果你像“太阳之子”基奥普斯国王一样富有和强大，你的坟墓甚至会变成一整座石头山。
deep inside, the mummy would be safe – or so they thought! but the mighty king’s efforts were in vain: his pyramid is empty.
深埋在里面的木乃伊应该是安全的——至少他们是这么想的！ 但这位伟大国王的努力是徒劳的，他的金字塔现在是空的。
but the mummies of other kings and those of many ancient egyptians h**e been found undisturbed in their tombs.
然而，其他国王和许多古埃及人的木乃伊在他们的坟墓中完好无损地保存下来。
a tomb was intended to be a dwelling for the soul when it returned to visit its body.
坟墓被视为灵魂的居所，当它返回探访身体时。
for this reason they put in food and furniture and clothes, and there are lots of paintings on the walls showing scenes from the life of the departed.
出于这个原因，他们在坟墓中放置了食物、家具和衣服，墙壁上还覆盖着描绘死者生活的壁画。
his portrait was there too, to make sure that when his soul came on a visit it wouldn’t go to the wrong tomb.
他的肖像也在那里，以确保他的灵魂在参观时不会走错坟墓。
thanks to the great stone statues, and the wonderfully bright and vivid wall paintings, we h**e a very good idea of what life in ancient egypt was like.
多亏了那些巨大的石雕和精美的壁画，我们对古埃及人的生活有了很好的了解。
true, these paintings do not show things as we see them.
诚然，这些画作并不能真正反映我们所看到的。
an object or a person that is behind another is generally shown on top, and the figures often look stiff.
本该排在后面的人和物，通常画在其他人和物之上，人物往往看起来很僵硬。
bodies are shown from the front and hands and feet from the side, so they look as if they h**e been ironed flat.
身体从正面显示，手和脚从侧面显示，因此它们看起来就像被熨平了一样。
but the egyptians knew what they were doing.
但埃及人知道他们在做什么。
every detail is clear: how they used great nets to catch ducks on the nile, how they paddled their boats and fished with long spears, how they pumped water into ditches to irrigate the fields, how they drove their cows and goats to pasture, how they threshed grain, made shoes and clothes, blew glass – for they could already do that! –and how they shaped bricks and built houses.
每一个细节都清晰可见：他们如何用大网在尼罗河上捕捉鸭子，他们如何在船上用长矛捕鱼，他们如何用水泵灌溉田地到沟渠中，他们如何驱赶牛羊到牧场，他们如何脱粒，他们如何制作鞋子和衣服，他们如何吹玻璃器皿——他们已经做到了！ – 以及如何塑造砖块和建造房屋。
and we can also see girls playing catch, or playing music on flutes, and soldiers going off to war, or returning with loot and foreign captives, such as black africans.
我们还可以看到女孩们玩投掷游戏或吹笛子，士兵们外出远征或带着战利品和外国俘虏（如非洲黑人）凯旋归来。