保护叙利亚遗址

保护叙利亚遗址

The museum in the Syrian town of Maarat al-Numan is well-known for its ancient Roman and Byzantine mosaics¹,mosaics are now hidden from view, indefinitely.

在叙利亚马特奴曼镇的博物馆中，古罗马与拜占庭镶嵌名扬海外，如今，我们将无法看到这些艺术品。

They were wrapped and sandbagged by volunteers shown in these vedios.

志愿者已经将它们包裹起来，并用沙袋进行了保护。

Activists² working to preserve Syria’s history from the destruction caused by the country’s civil war.

由于内战对文物造成的破坏，活动人士正在对叙利亚文物进行保护。

It’s in territory controlled by the opposition³, but the government regularly barrel-bombs it.

反对派正在控制这片区域，但政府频繁向这里进行轰炸。

Syrian opposition member Amr Al-Azm, says government forces launched an assault on Maarat al-Numan not long after the mosaics were sandbagged.

叙利亚反对派成员阿姆鲁·阿泽姆称，就在人们将镶嵌用沙袋保护后不久，政府军就向马特奴曼发动了进攻。

Al-Azm as director of Syria’s Science and Conservation Laboratories and taught at the University of Damascus. He fell out of favor with the Syrian regime and left the country before the civil war . But his concern for Syria’s past, and its future, did not end when he left the country.

阿泽姆是叙利亚科学与保护研究所主任，并在大马士革大学授课。他对叙利亚政权失去了兴趣，并在内战开始之前离开了叙利亚。然而，就在他离开祖国之时，他对叙利亚的过去，未来依然念念不忘。

We started to try to see if there was anything we could do to reduce the damage where possible, and more importantly, document what damage was already done.

他们对叙利亚局势进行关注，与此同时，他对破坏进行记录，编辑报告。

From a computer at Shawnee State, Al-Azm coordinates⁴ preservation⁵ efforts with a network of colleagues and former students who remain in Syria. They are his eyes and ears on the ground, while he documents and compiles reports of the destruction, remotely.

从肖尼州的电脑中，阿泽姆就保护工作与叙利亚同事和学生进行协调。他们关注着叙利亚的局势，与此同时，他对破坏进行记录，编辑报告。

The Maarat al-Numan museum is just one example of thousands in the Middle East that archaeologists are concerned about. While the museum’s mosaics may have been saved from permanent destruction, many sites at risk are not easily accessible, including those in places controlled by Islamic State, where militants⁶ have already looted or destroyed important historic sites.

考古学家担心的不只是马特奴曼镇博物馆，它也只是中东数千座遗迹之一。虽然，博物馆中的镶嵌可以免受破坏，但是还有许多很难受到保护的古迹，包括“伊斯兰国”极端组织控制的区域，极端组织已经洗劫了这里，破坏了重要的历史遗迹。

These are carefully crafted atrocities⁷ and they send a very specific message that ISIS is here and it can act with impunity⁸.

这是他们精心计划的暴行，并告诉我们他们可以堂而皇之地进行。

The looting that’s been taking place on tremendous scale all over Syria is happening in areas where the various opposition groups are in control, not just ISIS.

叙利亚遭受了大规模洗劫，不只是“伊斯兰国”极端组织，还有一些遭到反对派控制的区域也遭到了洗劫。

Professor McGuire Gibson, who specializes in Mesopotamian archaeology⁹ at the University of Chicago’s Oriental institute.

麦圭尔·吉布森是芝加哥大学东方研究所教授，他的主要研究方向为美索不达米亚考古。

He said part of preserving Syria’s past is getting the international community to crack down on the trade of looted artifacts.

他称对叙利亚古迹的保护工作让国际社会打击了洗劫艺术品的贸易活动。

Any site that archaeologists have worked on has been subjected to looting, because they know that there is something there that people will want.

考古学家的所有研究遗址均遭到了洗劫，因为他们知道这里有人们渴望的东西。

Some pillaged¹⁰ items might never make their way back to Syria. Compound with what's already been destroyed, Professor Al-Azm acknowledges the Syria of the future may look very different.

许多遭洗劫的文物或许永远不会再回到叙利亚。从已经遭到破坏的古迹来看，阿泽教授承认到，叙利亚的未来将会发生改变。

I hope that one day my children will be able to go back to Syria, and they’re not going to have the opportunity to see what I was able to see and grow up with.

我希望我的孩子未来还能够回到叙利亚，他们将不会再有机会看到我所能看到的这一切。

 

Which is why, despite the challenges of distance and access, Al-Azm and his network race to save what is left of Syria’s priceless and irreplaceable treasures.

不论距离有多远，不论遗迹是否能够得到保护，阿泽教授和他的团队正在争分夺秒挽救叙利亚瑰宝。

1 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

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

9 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

10 pillaged   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are to be pillaged and terrorised in Hitler's fury and revenge. 在希特勒的狂怒和报复下，他们还遭到掠夺和恐怖统治。 来自辞典例句
• They villages were pillaged and their crops destroyed. 他们的村子被抢，他们的庄稼被毁。 来自辞典例句