纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 008埃及彩绘陶牛（3）（在线收听）

Like all the objects I've chosen this week, these creatures speak of the consequences of climate change and human responses to it.

就像本周我选择的其他物品一样，这些陶牛也描述了气候变化和对人类生活产生的相关影响。

They have a story to tell about their owner that stretches far beyond Grave A23.

它们拥有自己的故事，远远超越了这处命名为墓A23的墓葬地。

All of the things found in this grave were intended to be useful in another world and,

这座坟墓中出土的一切物品，当初为了以供墓主来生使用；如今它们的有用之处，

in a way never imagined by the people who placed them there, they are.

却是当年人们放置物品时绝对想象不到的。

But they're useful for us, not for the dead. Because they allow us unique insights into remote societies,

因为它们是对我们这些活着的人有用，而不是那些死去的前人。因为它们为我们了解那遥远的人类早期社会提供了独特的见解，

their way of death casting light on their way of life, and perhaps even more important,

他们的死亡方式恰恰折射出他们当初的生活方式。也许更重要的是，

they give us some idea not just of what people did but of what they thought and believed.

这些随葬品让我们了解到的，不止是当时人们做了什么，还有他们在想什么，相信什么。

Most of what we know about early Egypt,that's Egypt before the pharaohs and the hieroglyphs,

早期古埃及是指埃及法老与象形文字出现之前的年代，通常现在我们对那段时期的了解，

is based on burial objects that archaeologists have discovered, objects like these little cows.

大部分都来自于这些类似这些小陶牛的考古发掘成果。

They come from a time when Egypt was populated only by small farming communities living along the Nile Valley.

它们所处的那个年代，古埃及人类们还只是形成规模不大的农耕小村落，零星地散布在尼河罗谷上。

Compared to the spectacular gold and tomb ornaments of later Egypt, these little clay cows are a modest thing.

与古埃及晚期壮丽辉煌的黄金与墓饰相比，这些小小的陶牛真是登不上大雅之堂。

Funerals at that point were simpler; they didn't involve embalming or mummifying;

然而在这个时期，墓葬礼仪通常相对简单，没有涉及到防腐处理或者木乃伊化，

that kind of practice wouldn't come for another thousand years. Instead we find a simpler way of burying people.

这两种习俗还要晚一千年才出现。相对的，根据我们所发现的，当时采用了一种更简单的方式来埋葬死者。