原來，古埃及藝術中奇怪的頭錐實際上是真正的帽子

原來，古埃及藝術中奇怪的頭錐實際上是真正的帽子

Most of the garments depicted in ancient Egyptian art are relatively straightforward to decipher, but there's a particular wearable article that has baffled archaeologists. In statuary, murals, funerary stelae, coffins and relief sculptures dating between 3,570 and 2,000 years ago, people repeatedly appeared wearing cones on their heads, a bit like party hats.

古埃及藝術中描繪的大多數服裝相對來說都比較簡單易懂，但有一件特殊的可穿戴物品卻讓考古學家們大惑不解。在3570年至2000年前的雕塑、壁畫、隨葬石碑、棺材和浮雕中，人們反復戴著錐狀頭飾出現，有點像聚會時戴的帽子。

Now, for the first time, archaeologists have actually identified two such cones, crafted out of wax and adorning the heads of skeletons dating back some 3,300 years. The finds were excavated from the cemeteries of the city of Akhetaten, also known as Amarna.

現在，考古學家們第一次發(fā)現了兩個這樣的錐狀物，它們是用蠟制作而成，裝飾在3300年前的骷髏頭上。這些發(fā)現是在阿赫塔吞(又名阿瑪納)的墓地中挖掘出來的。

This discovery may finally help to resolve several hypotheses over the meaning of these head cones, and what their function may have been back in the day.

這一發(fā)現可能最終有助于解決關于這些頭錐的意義的幾個假設，以及它們在當時的功能。

The excavation of two cones from the Amarna cemeteries confirms that three-dimensional, wax-based head cones were sometimes worn by the dead in ancient Egypt, and that access to these objects was not restricted to the upper elite, the researchers wrote in their paper.

研究人員在他們的論文中寫道:“從阿瑪納墓地挖掘出的兩個視錐細胞證實，在古埃及，死者有時會戴上三維的、以蠟為基礎的視錐細胞，而且接觸這些物體并不僅限于上層精英。”

The Amarna discovery supports the idea that head cones were also worn by the living, although it remains difficult to ascertain how often and why.

“阿瑪納的發(fā)現支持了頭錐也被活著的人戴上的觀點，盡管很難確定戴的頻率和原因。”

Akhetaten itself is a curiosity. The city was set up by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, who famously went religiously rogue, setting up his own cult to the sun-god Aten. He established Akhetaten as his capital city in around 1346 BCE, but his attempt to steer Egypt to a new religion was not popular, and Akhetaten was abandoned not long after the Pharaoh's death in 1332 BCE.

阿瑪納本身就是一件珍品。這座城市是由阿赫那吞法老建立的，他是出了名的宗教流氓，建立了自己對太陽神阿吞的崇拜。大約在公元前1346年，他建立了阿赫塔吞作為他的首都，但是他試圖將埃及引向一種新的宗教并不受歡迎，在公元前1332年法老死后不久，阿赫塔吞就被廢棄了。

In art discovered in the city, as well as Egypt at large, the head cone makes a not-infrequent appearance. It's often depicted on the heads of guests at a banquet, or tomb owners participating in funerary rituals or being rewarded by a king.

在這座城市以及整個埃及發(fā)現的藝術品中，頭錐的出現并不罕見。它通常被描繪在參加宴會的客人的頭上，或參加葬禮儀式的墳墓主人或被國王獎勵。

The two skeletons found wearing the cones at Akhetaten belonged to a woman around 29 years of age, and an individual whose sex has not been determined, aged between 15 and 20 years.

在阿瑪納發(fā)現的兩具戴著視錐細胞的骨骼，分別屬于一名29歲左右的女性，以及一名年齡在15至20歲之間、性別尚未確定的女性。

The woman, excavated in 2010, was in good condition, still intact as she had been laid to rest. She still retained her hair; tangled up in it was the cone, broken apart and burrowed through by insects, but recognisable.

這名女子于2010年出土，目前狀況良好，在下葬時仍然完好無損。她仍然留著她的頭發(fā);圓錐體纏在一起，被昆蟲撕破、鉆穿，但仍能辨認出來。

Interestingly, a pattern imprinted on the inside of the cone seemed consistent with fabric weave, as though the interior of the wax structure had been lined.

有趣的是，圓錐體內部的圖案似乎與織物組織相一致，就好像蠟結構的內部是有襯里的。

The grave of the second individual, excavated in 2015, had been robbed, leaving the skeleton jumbled together at the foot of the grave. However, it too had retained hair; and in this hair, the researchers identified a second cone.

2015年挖掘出的第二個人的墳墓被搶了，剩下的骨架在墳墓腳下雜亂地堆在一起。然而，它也留著頭發(fā);研究人員在這頭發(fā)上發(fā)現了第二個錐體。

Although these discoveries don't reveal the purpose of the cones, they do narrow things down a bit. For instance, both burials were simple and uninscribed, from a cemetery interpreted as belonging primarily to labourers.

雖然這些發(fā)現并沒有揭示視錐細胞的用途，但它們確實縮小了范圍。例如，這兩種埋葬方式都很簡單，沒有銘文，人們認為這是一塊主要屬于勞動者的墓地。

This could mean that, either the head cones were not just for high-status members of society but for everyone; or, as also inferred from a recently discovered burial, that the workers copied what they saw the nobility doing.

這可能意味著，頭錐不僅是為社會地位高的成員，而是為每個人;或者，從最近發(fā)現的一處墓葬推斷，工人們模仿了他們看到的貴族的行為。