025 狮身人面像

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I'm here in Egypt, standing on the Giza Plateau, which is known for its massive pyramids

我现在在埃及，站在吉萨高原上，这里以宏伟的金字塔闻名。

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The pyramid closest to me is the Pyramid of Khafre, named for the pharaoh who built it

离我最近的金字塔是哈夫拉金字塔，以建造它的法老命名。

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The farther one is called the Great Pyramid of Giza

远一些的那座叫吉萨大金字塔。

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The Pharaoh Khufu — Khafre's father — built that one

那座是胡夫法老——哈夫拉的父亲——建造的。

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You might find this hard to believe, but these pyramids were built over four thousand years ago

你可能觉得难以置信，但这些金字塔建于四千多年前。

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Hidden in the gray dawn, there's something else

在灰蒙蒙的晨曦中，还有什么东西若隐若现。

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Do you see it? It's the back of a massive head!

你看到了吗？那是一尊巨石头像的背面！

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You're looking at the Great Sphinx of Giza!

你眼前的就是吉萨大狮身人面像！

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You've probably already heard of the Great Sphinx of Giza

你可能早就听说过吉萨大狮身人面像。

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It's the tallest stone statue ever built in ancient Egypt

它是古埃及有史以来最高大的石像。

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Scientists believe it was created around 2500 BC, maybe during Pharaoh Khafre's reign

科学家认为它建于约公元前2500年，可能是在法老哈夫拉统治时期。

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Carved from limestone, the statue has a lion's body and a person's head

雕像由石灰岩雕刻而成，身体是狮子，头部是人。

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The Great Sphinx really is " great"; its massive body is about 73 meters long and 20 meters high

大狮身人面像真的很“大”；它巨大的身体长约73米，高约20米。

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Its head is bigger than a mansion, and its body weighs about the same as fifty jumbo jets!

它的头部比一座豪宅还大，身体重量大约相当于五十架巨型喷气式飞机！

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The sphinx, a mythological creature, first appeared in ancient Egyptian and Greek culture

斯芬克斯是一种神话生物，最早出现在古埃及和古希腊文化中。

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In art and stories, the sphinx always has a lion's body and a human's face

在艺术和故事里，斯芬克斯总是有着狮子的身体和人类的面孔。

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But while the ancient Greeks portrayed the sphinx as female, usually with wings, the ancient Egyptians portrayed the sphinx as male

不过，古希腊人把斯芬克斯描绘成女性，通常带有翅膀，而古埃及人则把斯芬克斯描绘成男性。

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Many Egyptian temples and pyramids have sphinx statues standing guard; the ancient Egyptians probably saw them as benevolent protectors

许多埃及神庙和金字塔都有斯芬克斯雕像守卫；古埃及人很可能把它们视为仁慈的保护者。

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The appearance of the sphinx in culture has given scientists clues about the Great Sphinx monument

斯芬克斯在文化中的形象为科学家提供了关于大狮身人面像的线索。

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But many mysteries still surround it. For instance, scholars wonder about the Sphinx's face

但许多谜团仍然围绕着它。例如，学者们对狮身人面像的面部感到好奇。

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Was it carved to look like a real person?

它是照着真人的样子雕刻的吗？

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Perhaps Pharaoh Khafre or his father, Pharaoh Khufu?

也许是哈夫拉法老，或者他的父亲胡夫法老？

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Many experts suspect the Sphinx has Khafre's face

许多专家怀疑狮身人面像有着哈夫拉的面容。

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That's because Khafre had a beard, and so did the statue, originally

那是因为哈夫拉留有胡须，而这座雕像最初也有。

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Why was the statue built? Maybe it was constructed to honor the pharaoh — a symbol of his awesome power

为什么建造这座雕像？也许是为了纪念法老——象征他令人敬畏的权力。

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Or perhaps it was put there, facing east, to worship the sun

又或者，它被安置在那里，面朝东方，是为了崇拜太阳。

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In ancient Egypt, the horizon was believed to be where the dead entered the afterlife

在古埃及，地平线被认为是死者进入来世的地方。

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The Great Sphinx could be guarding that sacred spot

大狮身人面像可能一直在守护着那个神圣的地点。

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And who built the Great Sphinx? While the nearby pyramids have inscriptions and clues about their builders, the Great Sphinx reveals almost no clues

那么，是谁建造了大狮身人面像？虽然附近的金字塔有关于其建造者的铭文和线索，但大狮身人面像几乎没有透露任何线索。

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Scientists think it was created by the same team that constructed one of the pyramids

科学家们认为，它是由建造其中一座金字塔的同一批人建造的。

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But since these pyramids were built at different times, it's hard to know for sure which team that was

但由于这些金字塔建于不同时期，很难确切知道是哪一批人。

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And here's another mystery about the Sphinx's construction — it was never finished

关于狮身人面像的建造，还有另一个谜团——它从未完工。

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Scholars don't know why, but the builders seem to have abandoned the project shortly before its completion

学者们不知道为什么，但建造者似乎在即将完工前不久放弃了这个工程。

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I was surprised to learn this, but sand has buried the Great Sphinx on and off throughout most of its existence

得知这一点我很惊讶，但大狮身人面像在其存在的大部分时间里，时而被沙掩埋，时而又显露出来。

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According to a story from around 1400 BC, a prince was hunting in the hot desert and saw the Sphinx's head sticking out of the sand

根据一个大约公元前1400年的故事，一位王子在炎热的沙漠中打猎，看到狮身人面像的头部从沙子里伸出来。

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He decided to sit in the shade under the head

他决定在头部下面的阴凉处坐一坐。

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The prince fell asleep, and when the sun reached its highest point, the statue appeared to the prince in a dream

王子睡着了，当太阳升到最高点时，那座雕像在梦中出现在王子面前。

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It said that if the prince uncovered the rest of the statue, the prince would become the next pharaoh

它说，如果王子把雕像的其余部分挖出来，王子将成为下一任法老。

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The prince did as the statue said, and he became King Thutmose IV!

王子照雕像说的做了，他成了图特摩斯四世国王！

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Oh, and over time the Great Sphinx was buried under sand again, of course!

哦，当然，随着时间的推移，大狮身人面像又一次被埋在了沙下！

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Being buried under the sand may have helped to protect the Sphinx

被埋在沙下可能有助于保护狮身人面像。

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If the Sphinx had not been buried for most of its existence, it would have disappeared long ago

如果狮身人面像在其存在的大部分时间里没有被掩埋，它早就消失不见了。

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Still, the statue has suffered a lot of damage over time

然而，这座雕像在岁月中遭受了大量损坏。

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Its nose is missing — gone forever, probably chiseled out by looters

它的鼻子缺失了——永远不见了，很可能被掠夺者凿掉了。

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But that's not the worst problem. The statue is slowly turning to dust!

但最严重的问题还不止于此。这座雕像正在慢慢化为尘土！

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Limestone is soft, and wind, water, and sand have weakened the statue over time

石灰岩质地较软，长年累月的风、水和沙子侵蚀了雕像。

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Two more recent threats to the Great Sphinx are pollution and rising groundwater

狮身人面像近期的另外两个威胁是污染和不断上升的地下水位。

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Today the stone is treated with special chemicals that help protect it from the pollution

如今，石材会用特殊的化学品处理，以帮助其免受污染。

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And holes have been drilled in several spots near the statue to prevent water damage

而且在雕像附近的几个地方钻了孔洞，以防止水患损坏。

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Luckily, scientists also used sophisticated laser scanning equipment to closely examine the statue

幸运的是，科学家们还使用了先进的激光扫描设备来仔细检查雕像。

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The equipment helped to identify its weak spots, and now scientists can take steps to limit future damage

该设备有助于识别其薄弱点，现在科学家们可以采取措施来减少未来的损坏。

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Thousands of years ago, as the Great Sphinx sat here, gazing at the rising sun, it was probably guarding the pharaohs' entryway to the afterlife

几千年前，当狮身人面像坐在这里，凝视着初升的太阳时，它很可能是在守护法老通往來世的入口。

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Now it's our time to be the guards

现在，轮到我们来守护了。

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We have to watch the ancient Sphinx carefully and take good care of it

我们必须仔细照看这古老的狮身人面像，好好爱护它。

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That way, thousands of years from now, people will still be admiring its beauty

那样，几千年后，人们依然能欣赏到它的美。