埃及出土古代獅子、鱷魚和貓的木乃伊

埃及出土古代獅子、鱷魚和貓的木乃伊

Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed a rare mummy menagerie, including the wrapped remains of cats, crocodiles, scarabs, cobras and two lion cubs.

考古學(xué)家在埃及發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)罕見的木乃伊動(dòng)物園，包括包裹著的貓、鱷魚、圣甲蟲、眼鏡蛇和兩只小獅子的遺骸。

The discovery was made in the tomb of a 7th century royal priest in Saqqara, south of Cairo, according to Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s minister of antiquities.

據(jù)埃及文物部長Khaled El-Enany稱，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)是在開羅南部的Saqqara的一個(gè)7世紀(jì)的皇家牧師的墳?zāi)怪邪l(fā)現(xiàn)的。

The collection — 25 small wooden mummy caskets adorned with hieroglyphics, along with 75 more boxes filled with wooden and bronze statues of Egyptian deities — could make-up a “museum by itself,” El-Enany said Saturday.

埃爾-埃納尼周六表示，這些藏品——25個(gè)裝飾著象形文字的木制小木乃伊棺材，以及另外75個(gè)裝滿了木制和青銅埃及神像的盒子——可以“單獨(dú)組成一個(gè)博物館”。

The archeologists report that the artifacts date back to the 36th dynasty, considered ancient Egypt’s renaissance era.

考古學(xué)家報(bào)告說，這些文物可以追溯到第36王朝，被認(rèn)為是古埃及的文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期。

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities shared information about the findings on the Facebook over the this weekend. The most extraordinary pieces, according to the ministry’s secretary general Mostafa Waziri, is the five preserved big cats, which CT-scans revealed were lion cubs.

本周末，埃及古物部在Facebook上分享了關(guān)于這些發(fā)現(xiàn)的信息。據(jù)文化部秘書長穆斯塔法·瓦茲里稱，最特別的是5只保存完好的大貓，ct掃描顯示它們是小獅子。

Researchers pointed out that this would have been considered prized and extremely rare pets during that period, pointing to a 2004 discovery of a lion skeleton by French Egyptologist Alain Zivie, who then proved the lion’s high regard in ancient Egypt.

研究人員指出，在那個(gè)時(shí)期，獅子被認(rèn)為是非常珍貴和罕見的寵物。2004年，法國埃及古物學(xué)家阿蘭·齊維(Alain Zivie)發(fā)現(xiàn)了一具獅子骨架，證明了獅子在古埃及的崇高地位。

The “meticulously mummified” animals were found buried alongside dozens of animal statuettes made of sandstone, wood and bronze, such as 75 cats of various shapes and sizes; sculptures of the apis bull deity, a mongoose, ibis, falcon and the god Anubis, formed with the body of a man and head of a jackal.

這些“精心制作的動(dòng)物木乃伊”與數(shù)十個(gè)動(dòng)物雕像一起被發(fā)現(xiàn)埋葬，這些動(dòng)物雕像由砂巖、木材和青銅制成，比如75只不同形狀和大小的貓;阿比斯牛神、貓鼬、朱鷺、獵鷹和阿奴比斯神的雕像，由人的身體和豺狼的頭組成。

The dig also unearthed a “large” stone-carved scarab beetle, a sacred symbol of rebirth in ancient Egypt, plus two more small smaller versions made of wood and sandstone, as well as several other amulets made of wood and clay.

這次挖掘還出土了一個(gè)“大”石雕圣甲蟲，它是古埃及重生的神圣象征，另外還有兩個(gè)更小的版本，由木頭和砂巖制成，以及其他幾個(gè)由木頭和粘土制成的護(hù)身符。

Enlarge ImageDeities featured in the cache included 73 bronze figurines of the god Osiris; six wooden statues of god Ptah-Soker, 11 wooden and ceramic statues of the lioness god Sekhmet; and goddess Neith wearing the crown of Lower Egypt.

放大隱藏的神像包括73個(gè)奧西里斯神的青銅雕像;6個(gè)Ptah-Soker神的木制雕像，11個(gè)Sekhmet神的木制和陶制雕像;女神妮斯戴著下埃及的王冠。

The animals remains were found at the Saqqara necropolis near the Giza pyramids, which also houses the 4,400-year-old, “exceptionally well preserved” tomb of ancient priest Wahtye, according to the Ministry of Antiquities, and the recently excavated mummification workshop dating as far back as 664 B.C.

這些動(dòng)物的遺骸是在吉薩金字塔附近的塞加拉墓地發(fā)現(xiàn)的，那里還有4400年歷史的古牧師瓦赫提的“保存非常完好”的墳?zāi)梗瑩?jù)古物部說，還有最近發(fā)掘的木乃伊制作作坊，可以追溯到公元前664年。