经济学人381:土耳其的文化雄心(2)

 　　Curators in other countries are alarmed at what they see as growing aggression¹. A leading museum director even described the campaign as “blackmail”. So what chance has Turkey of winning this new culture war?

　　其他国家的馆长将这些日益增长的挑衅行为感到震惊。一个重要的博物馆馆长甚至说这场运动是敲诈行为。如此一来土耳其会有什么样的机会来赢得这场文化战争呢？

　　At the crossroads of the ancient world, drawing Roman armies from the west and Persian conquerors² from the east, Turkey—especially the region of Anatolia—has long been a rich seam of knowledge and treasure from antiquity³. In the 19th century teams of European scholars travelled there in search of archaeological remains⁴. Among the most successful was a German unit led by Carl Humann. Armed with a firman, or Ottoman permit, and financed by a group of rich backers in Berlin, Humann and his team, in 1878, began excavating⁵ a site in Bergama, near the modern city of Izmir on the Aegean coast of western Turkey.

　　处在古代世界的十字路口，土耳其吸引了西方的罗马军队和东方的波斯征服者，土耳其，尤其是安那托利亚地区，长期以来被人们视为知识繁荣文物丰富的宝地。19世纪欧洲学者为了搜寻考古遗迹来到这里。其中最成功的要数卡尔·休曼领导的德国考古队。有了苏丹的敕令（奥斯曼帝国的许可），得到了大批柏林富翁的资助，休曼和他的同事从1878年开始挖掘在土耳其西部其爱琴海岸贝尔加马（现代城市伊兹密尔附近）的一处遗址。

　　Humann’s most important discovery was the altar of Zeus, which dates from the second century BC. Its dramatic frieze⁶ depicting⁷ the battle between the giants and the Olympian gods makes it one of the most distinctive⁸ works from the classical world. With the sultan’s permission, the altar was sent to Germany and became the centrepiece of the Pergamon museum in Berlin. Meanwhile, German archaeologists continued to work on the site; today, the ancient city of Pergamon is the second oldest ongoing⁹ archaeological dig in the world. German excavations¹⁰ are still the most important of the foreign digs in Turkey, and for decades Turkish archaeologists have been educated in Berlin and other German cities, their studies subsidised by German government grants.

　　休曼最重要的发现是公元前二世纪的宙斯祭坛。它的浮雕生动地描绘了巨人和奥林匹亚众神作战的情景，这座祭坛也因此跻身古代最杰出的艺术品行列。获得苏丹的允许后，祭坛被送到德国，成为柏林佩加蒙博物馆的镇馆之宝。与此同时，考古学家在遗址上继续工作。今天佩加蒙古城是世界上第二个持续进行的考古发掘。现在，在土耳其的外国发掘中，德国独占鳌头，数十年来，土耳其考古学家在柏林和其他德国城市接受教育，他们的学习得到了德国政府拨款资助。

　　Archaeological teams like Humann’s were soon followed by scholars from Britain and France, and into the 20th century from Italy, Japan and America. Some paid for their projects by selling a portion of their finds to Western collectors who were becoming increasingly enamoured of all things à la Turque. Others removed treasures they believed might be at risk from war and insurrection, and gave them to the new European museums. Foreign scholars saved a considerable number of Turkish artefacts from being commercially looted or destroyed by invading armies. This is rarely mentioned in Turkey’s discussions about its archaeological past.

　　类似休曼考古队的行动很快被来自英国和法国的学者效仿，到了20世纪，意大利、日本和美国的学者也加入到这个行列。有人为了支付工程款项就向西方收藏家出售了发掘到的部分物品，那些收藏家对土耳其所有的东西越发倾心。其他人因为害怕战争和动乱带来风险就转移了文物并把他们送到了欧洲博物馆。他们的行动使文物免于被低价掠夺或者侵略军的毁坏。土耳其讨论过去的考古工作时，对这段历史几乎只字不提。

　　The precise way in which objects were acquired has kept on changing. Some scholars had formal permission from the Ottoman authorities to take their treasures back to Europe; others were motivated by a wish to preserve and protect and did not bother with obtaining proper permissions or establishing a full and accurate provenance¹¹ for an object. Looters robbed graves and helped themselves.

　　取得文物的正确方法一直在变化。有些学者到得到奥斯曼帝国当局的正式批准后将文物带回欧洲。有的学者出于保存和保护文物的目的，没有费尽心机的征得适当的许可或者建立完整准确的文物档案。掠夺墓地的抢劫者只拿他们想要的东西。

　　Use of force

　　使用强力

　　Western museums house tens of thousands of objects from Turkey. Most of these were given or acquired without full documentation. Though Turkey passed a law in 1884 (updated in 1906) stating that all antiquities¹² were the property of the state and could not be taken out of the country, this was only loosely enforced.

　　西方博物馆里来自土耳其的文物成千上万。博物馆获赠或获取的这些艺术品没有完整档案。虽然1884年土耳其通过一部法律（1906年更新）规定所有的文物属于国家财产并且不能带到国外，这部法律的约束力不大。

1 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

2 conquerors   

征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Danes had selfconfidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. 这些丹麦人具有征服者的自信，而且他们的安全防卫也是漫不经心的。
• The conquerors believed in crushing the defeated people into submission, knowing that they could not win their loyalty by the victory. 征服者们知道他们的胜利并不能赢得失败者的忠心，于是就认为只有通过武力才能将他们压服。

3 antiquity   

n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹

参考例句：

• The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
• There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。

4 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。

5 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

6 frieze   

n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带

参考例句：

• The Corinthian painter's primary ornamental device was the animal frieze.科林斯画家最初的装饰图案是动物形象的装饰带。
• A careful reconstruction of the frieze is a persuasive reason for visiting Liverpool. 这次能让游客走访利物浦展览会，其中一个具有说服力的原因则是壁画得到了精心的重建。

7 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

8 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 excavations   

n.挖掘( excavation的名词复数 )；开凿；开凿的洞穴（或山路等）；（发掘出来的）古迹

参考例句：

• The excavations are open to the public. 发掘现场对公众开放。
• This year's excavations may reveal ancient artifacts. 今年的挖掘可能会发现史前古器物。 来自辞典例句

11 provenance   

n.出处；起源

参考例句：

• Kato was fully aware of the provenance of these treasures.加藤完全清楚这些珍宝的来源。
• This plant's provenance is Asiadj.这种植物原产于亚洲。

12 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