Who Was King Tut 图坦卡蒙法老 Chapter 12 The Legend Lives On

Right after Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb, scary stories started to be told. Stories about curses. Over the entrances of many ancient Egyptian tombs were warnings in hieroglyphs¹. People better stay away, the warnings said. Because anybody who dared to enter would pay for it.
Lord Carnarvon died only a few months after Tut’s tomb was opened. A bad insect bite was the likely cause of his death. But many people were sure it was because of a curse. Tut was getting revenge². But if that were so, wouldn’t Tut be angrier at Howard Carter? Yet Howard Carter lived until 1939 and died from natural causes.
For some people, stories of a curse add to the mystery of ancient Egypt. They like being scared. That’s why horror movies about mummies are so popular.
Ancient Egypt was very different from our world. But it was a peaceful world. It was a world of great beauty. The people of ancient Egypt loved life so much, they hoped it would go on forever.
If people are lucky enough to see King Tut’s precious belongings³, that is what they should remember.
ANCIENT EGYPT’S LONG HISTORY
HISTORIANS⁴ DIVIDE ANCIENT EGYPT AND THE RULE OF THE PHARAOHS INTO TIME PERIODS CALLED KINGDOMS. THE OLD KINGDOM, WHICH STARTED IN 2575 B.C.-THAT’S MORE THAN 4,500 YEARS AGO-LASTED ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. THE MIDDLE KINGDOM BEGAN IN 1975 B.C. AND CONTINUED FOR MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED YEARS. THE NEW KINGDOM DATED FROM 1539 B.C. TO 1075 B.C. KING TUT RULED DURING THE NEW KINGDOM.
BETWEEN THESE MAJOR PERIODS THERE WERE TIMES WHEN EGYPT WAS NOT AN ORGANIZED EMPIRE RULED BY ONE PHARAOH. HISTORIANS CALL THESE INTERMEDIATE⁵ PERIODS.
WITHIN THE KINGDOMS AND INTERMEDIATE PERIODS ARE DYNASTIES. DYNASTIES IDENTIFY WHEN A CERTAIN FAMILY WAS IN POWER. THERE WERE USUALLY MANY KINGS IN ONE DYNASTY. DURING THE NEW KINGDOM, KING TUT WAS THE TWELFTH KING OF THE EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY.
DURING THE LATE PERIOD (715-332 B.C.), EGYPT CAME UNDER THE RULE OF MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND LOST MUCH OF ITS POWER. THE LATE PERIOD WAS FOLLOWED BY THE GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD (332 B.C.-A.D. 395) AND FINALLY, IN 30 B.C., EGYPT BECAME A PROVINCE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. AN EGYPTIAN WOULD NOT BE KING AGAIN UNTIL MORE THAN 1,500 YEARS LATER, IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY A.D.

1 hieroglyphs   

n.象形字（如古埃及等所用的）( hieroglyph的名词复数 )；秘密的或另有含意的书写符号

参考例句：

• Hieroglyphs are carved into the walls of the temple. 寺庙的墙壁上刻着象形文字。 来自辞典例句
• This paper discusses the fundamental distinctions between the hieroglyphs andforerunner of writing. 英汉象形文字的比较是建立在象形文字具体内涵的基础上。 来自互联网

2 revenge   

v.报...之仇，为...报仇 ；n.报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• She poisoned his mind with ideas of hate and revenge.她用复仇的思想来毒害他的心灵。
• There was anger in his eyes and revenge in his heart.他两眼闪现怒火，一心只想复仇。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

5 intermediate   

adj.中间的，居间的，中级的；n.中间体，媒介物

参考例句：

• This country is now at an intermediate stage of development.这个国家目前正处于发展的中间阶段。
• Gray is intermediate between black and white.灰色介于黑色和白色之间。