纪录片《文明》 第30期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（30）

And they all brought a flourish

他们也随之带来了

of their own cultural styles with them.

自己民族的文化样式

Most of the art discovered here has been taken to museums,

大部分在此发现的艺术品已被送至博物馆

but what survives tells the story of a cosmopolitan² playground.

但这些遗迹本身也在讲述一座玩乐大都会的故事

There are curious abstract representations

这里有纳巴泰女神的

of a Nabataean goddess...

抽象画

carved heads from the wine soaked Hellenistic cult¹ of Dionysus.

属于酒香四溢的狄俄尼索斯教派的雕刻头像

Recent excavations³ have brought to light ritzy villas⁴

最近的挖掘发现了在原生岩石层中

carved into the living rock.

雕凿出的豪华住宅

Inside them, "Here's to happiness" Murals

其中 《幸福之地》壁画

from that same Dionysian cult,

也来自狄俄倪索斯教派

cherubs⁵, vine leaves,

画上有天使 葡萄树叶

the inevitable⁶ bunches of grapes.

当然也肯定有葡萄串

And from the later years of Petra's life, Byzantine mosaics⁷

还有来自佩特拉时代后期的拜占庭镶嵌画

found beneath the sand and rubble⁸ of a ruined church.

被发现埋藏在一座教堂的废墟下

Petra had its day, or rather its centuries,

佩特拉的辉煌可能持续过好几世纪

and then it ended.

但还是结束了

Not because of conquest,

不是因为战争

but because new trade routes

仅仅是因为新贸易路线

simply made Petra commercially irrelevant⁹.

让佩特拉在商业上变得无关紧要

1 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

2 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

3 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

4 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

5 cherubs   

小天使，胖娃娃( cherub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。
• Angels, Cherubs and Seraphs-Dignity, glory and honor. 天使、小天使、六翼天使－尊严、荣耀和名誉。

6 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

7 mosaics   

n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案

参考例句：

• The panel shows marked similarities with mosaics found elsewhere. 这块嵌板和在其他地方找到的镶嵌图案有明显的相似之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The unsullied and shining floor was paved with white mosaics. 干净明亮的地上镶嵌着白色图案。 来自辞典例句

8 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

9 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。