2022年11月08日 VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：在阿聯(lián)酋發(fā)現(xiàn)的可能比伊斯蘭教更古老的基督教修道院

 

An ancient Christian site has been discovered on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, officials announced recently. The religious complex, a monastery, could date to a time before the spread of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula.
官員們最近宣布，在阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)海岸附近的一個(gè)島上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)古老的基督教遺址。這座宗教建筑群是一座修道院，可以追溯到伊斯蘭教在阿拉伯半島傳播之前的一段時(shí)間。
 
The monastery is providing researchers a lot of information about early Christianity in the Persian Gulf area. It is the second such monastery found in the Emirates, dating back as many as 1,400 years.
該修道院為研究人員提供了大量有關(guān)波斯灣地區(qū)早期基督教的信息。這是在阿聯(lián)酋發(fā)現(xiàn)的第二座此類修道院，其歷史可追溯至 1,400 年前。
 
The two monasteries became lost to history in the sands of time.
兩座寺院在歲月的流逝中消失在歷史的長(zhǎng)河中。
 
As Islam spread in the area, experts believe Christians slowly became Muslim. Today, Christians remain a minority across the wider Middle East.
隨著伊斯蘭教在該地區(qū)的傳播，專家認(rèn)為基督徒慢慢成為穆斯林。今天，在整個(gè)中東地區(qū)，基督徒仍然是少數(shù)。
 
Timothy Power of the United Arab Emirates University described the UAE today as a "melting pot of nations."
阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)大學(xué)的 Timothy Power 今天將阿聯(lián)酋描述為“國(guó)家的大熔爐”。
 
Power helped investigate the newly discovered monastery.
權(quán)力幫助調(diào)查了新發(fā)現(xiàn)的修道院。
 
He added, "The fact that something similar was happening here ... 1,000 years ago is really remarkable and this is a story that deserves to be told."
他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“1000 年前這里也發(fā)生過(guò)類似的事情，這一事??實(shí)非常了不起，這是一個(gè)值得講述的故事。”
 
The monastery sits on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, an emirate some 50 kilometers northeast of Dubai. The island has a series of sandy areas coming off of it like fingers. On one, to the island's northeast, researchers discovered the monastery.
修道院坐落在迪拜東北約 50 公里的酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)烏姆蓋萬(wàn)的西尼亞島上。島上有一系列像手指一樣的沙地。一方面，在該島的東北部，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了這座修道院。
 
Samples found in the monastery's foundation date between 534 and 656. Islam's Prophet Muhammad was born around 570 and died in 632.
在修道院的創(chuàng)建中發(fā)現(xiàn)的樣本可追溯到 534 年至 656 年。伊斯蘭教的先知穆罕默德出生于 570 年左右，死于 632 年。
 
Seen from above, the monastery's floor plan suggests early Christian worshippers prayed within a small church. Rooms within the monastery appear to hold a baptismal area, as well as an oven for baking bread or wafers for communion rites. Another area also likely held an altar and an installation for communion wine.
從上面看，修道院的平面圖表明早期的基督教信徒在一個(gè)小教堂內(nèi)祈禱。修道院內(nèi)的房間似乎設(shè)有洗禮區(qū)，以及用于烘烤面包或薄餅以進(jìn)行圣餐儀式的烤箱。另一個(gè)區(qū)域也可能有一個(gè)祭壇和一個(gè)圣餐酒裝置。
 
Next to the monastery sits a second building with four rooms, likely around an open area known as a courtyard. This was possibly the home of an early church leader such as an abbot or even a bishop.
修道院旁邊是第二座有四個(gè)房間的建筑，可能圍繞著一個(gè)被稱為庭院的開(kāi)放區(qū)域。這可能是早期教會(huì)領(lǐng)袖的家，例如方丈甚至主教。
 
The monastery recently saw a visit from Noura bint Mohammed al-Kaabi, the country's culture and youth minister, as well as Sheikh Majid bin Saud Al Mualla, the head of the Umm al-Quwain's Tourism and Archaeology Department and a son of the emirate's ruler.
該修道院最近接待了該國(guó)文化和青年部長(zhǎng) Noura bint Mohammed al-Kaabi 以及烏姆蓋萬(wàn)旅游和考古部門負(fù)責(zé)人、酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)統(tǒng)治者之子 Sheikh Majid bin Saud Al Mualla 的訪問(wèn).
 
The UAE's Culture Ministry has also supported the dig, which is ongoing. Just hundreds of meters away from the church, there is a collection of buildings that archaeologists believe belongs to a pre-Islamic village.
阿聯(lián)酋文化部也支持正在進(jìn)行的挖掘工作。距離教堂僅數(shù)百米的地方，有考古學(xué)家認(rèn)為屬于前伊斯蘭村莊的建筑群。
 
Nearby also sits a village that the British bombed in 1820 before the area became part of what was known as the Trucial States, an early form of the modern UAE. That village's destruction brought about the creation of the modern-day settlement of Umm al-Quwain on the mainland.
附近還有一個(gè)村莊，英國(guó)人在 1820 年轟炸了該地區(qū)，之后該地區(qū)成為所謂的 Trucial States 的一部分，這是現(xiàn)代阿聯(lián)酋的早期形式。那個(gè)村莊的毀滅導(dǎo)致了現(xiàn)代烏姆蓋萬(wàn)大陸定居點(diǎn)的建立。
 
Historians say early churches and monasteries spread along the Persian Gulf to the coasts of present-day Oman and all the way to India. Archaeologists have found other similar churches and monasteries in Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
歷史學(xué)家說(shuō)，早期的教堂和修道院沿著波斯灣延伸到今天的阿曼海岸，一直到印度?？脊艑W(xué)家在巴林、伊拉克、伊朗、科威特和沙特阿拉伯發(fā)現(xiàn)了其他類似的教堂和修道院。
 
In the early 1990s, archaeologists discovered the first Christian monastery in the UAE, on Sir Bani Yas Island, today a protected natural area and site of luxury hotels. It similarly dates back to the same period as the new find in Umm al-Quwain.
1990 年代初期，考古學(xué)家在巴尼亞斯爵士島發(fā)現(xiàn)了阿聯(lián)酋第一座基督教修道院，如今這里是受保護(hù)的自然區(qū)域和豪華酒店所在地。它與烏姆蓋萬(wàn)的新發(fā)現(xiàn)同樣可以追溯到同一時(shí)期。
 
However, evidence of early life along the Khor al-Beida area in Umm al-Quwain dates as far back as the Neolithic period. This evidence suggests continuous human presence in the area for at least 10,000 years, Power said.
然而，Umm al-Quwain 的 Khor al-Beida 地區(qū)早期生活的證據(jù)可以追溯到新石器時(shí)代。鮑爾說(shuō)，這一證據(jù)表明，該地區(qū)至少有 10,000 年的時(shí)間都在持續(xù)存在人類。
 
Power said that building developments led to the archaeological work that discovered the monastery. The area will be fenced off and protected, he said, though it remains unclear what other secrets of the past remain hidden just under a thin layer of sand on the island.
鮑爾說(shuō)，建筑發(fā)展導(dǎo)致了發(fā)現(xiàn)修道院的考古工作。他說(shuō)，該地區(qū)將被圍起來(lái)并受到保護(hù)，盡管目前尚不清楚島上一層薄薄的沙子下還隱藏著哪些過(guò)去的秘密。
 
"It's a really fascinating discovery because in some ways it's hidden history — it's not something that's widely known," Power said.
“這是一個(gè)非常有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)，因?yàn)樵谀承┓矫嫠请[藏的歷史——它不是廣為人知的東西，”鮑爾說(shuō)。