纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 062希伯来星盘（4）

 

At first sight this astrolabe looks like an outsized old-fashioned pocket watch with an entirely¹ brass² face. It sits easily in my hand - in fact it fills it - and it's a gleaming assemblage of interlocking brass-work, with five wafer-thin discs, one on top of another, held together by a central pin. On top of this are a number of pointers that you can line up with various symbols on the discs, and this will give you astronomical³ readings, or help you determine your position. An astrolabe like this one is designed for the particular latitude⁴ in which it is going to be used. The five discs here will allow you to get an accurate reading from any position between the latitudes⁵ of the Pyrenees and North Africa. In the middle of the range are the latitudes for the Spanish cities of Seville and Toledo.

And that tells me that this astrolabe was almost certainly made for somebody based in Spain, who might travel between North Africa and France. And what's written on the astrolabe tells us pretty clearly what kind of person must have been using it. It tells us that the owner is Jewish, and is learned. Silke Ackermann, the curator of scientific instruments here at the British Museum, has spent a lot of time on the astrolabe's inscriptions⁶:

一眼望去，这块星盘像是一块超大号的老式纯黄铜面怀表。它闪闪发亮，各部件间紧密相扣，五个超薄圆盘层层相叠，中央穿过一根细针将其固定。表层有数根指针，和圆盘上的各种符号相对后会显示出一些天文读数，或是帮助你判断现处方位。星盘是根据目标地区的纬度特别设计的。这五个圆盘能让你了解纬度从比利牛斯山脉到北非之间任何位置的精确数据。这一纬度范围包括了西班牙城市塞维利亚和托莱多。

我们据此得知，这块星盘是为一位居住在西班牙的人设计制作的，他可能曾往返于北非与法国。星盘上的文字告诉我们，他是一位受过良好教育的犹太人。

大英博物馆科学器械管理员西尔克·阿克曼博士仔细研究了这块星盘：

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

3 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

4 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

5 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。

6 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。