Egypt

Egyptian art commonly depicts pharaohs as being trim and statuesque, but this was most likelynot the case. The Egyptian diet of beer, wine, bread and honey was high in sugar, and studiesshow that it may have done a number on royal waistlines. Examinations of mummies haveindicated that many Egyptian rulers were unhealthy and overweight, and even suffered fromdiabetes. A notable example is the legendary Queen Hatshepsut, who lived in the 15th centuryB.C. While her sarcophagus depicts her as slender and athletic, historians believe she wasactually obese and balding. 在古埃及艺术中，法老常常瘦削挺拔、身材匀称，但事实并非如此。埃及人饮食中的啤酒、葡萄酒、面包、蜂蜜常常含有过多糖分，这可给埃及人的腰贡献了不少脂肪。检测木乃伊的结果显示：很多法老的身体都不够健康，体重超标，甚至患有糖尿病。典型的例子就是哈特谢普苏特王后——她生活在公元前15世纪，石棺上的王后苗条而优雅，然而很多史学家认为：这位王后不仅肥胖，而且还可能是个秃子。

7. The pyramids were not built by slaves. 金字塔并非奴隶所建

The life of a pyramid builder certainly wasn't easy—skeletons of workers commonly show signsof arthritis and other ailments—but evidence suggests that the massive tombs were built notby slaves but by paid laborers. These ancient construction workers were a mix of skilledartisans and temporary hands, and some appear to have taken great pride in their craft.Graffiti found near the monuments suggests they often assigned humorous names to theircrews like the “Drunkards of Menkaure” or the “Friends of Khufu.” The idea that slaves built thepyramids at the crack of a whip was first conjured by the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifthcentury B.C., but most historians now dismiss it as myth. While the ancient Egyptians werecertainly not averse to keeping slaves, they appear to have mostly used them as field handsand domestic servants. 修建金字塔的人过得并不好，工人的骨架上有关节炎及各种疾病的痕迹。但有证据显示，那些巨大的陵墓并非奴隶所建，而是当权者花钱请工人建的，这些要么是有一技之长的工匠，要么是一些临时工。而且，似乎一些工人还对自己的手艺感到相当自豪。纪念碑旁有一些涂鸦，上面常有他们为工友起的令人啼笑皆非的绰号：“孟卡拉(译者注：Menkaure，又译门卡拉，古埃及第四王朝的法老，大约在公元前26世纪里在位18年左右。)的酒鬼”、“胡夫的好基友”。而“奴隶在鞭声中修建金字塔”这一观点最早是由希腊史学家希罗多德在公元前5世纪提出的，但很多史学家并不认同，觉得简直是一派胡言。尽管古埃及人不反对蓄养奴隶，但这些奴隶多在田间劳作，或在家中打杂。

8. King Tut may have been killed by a hippopotamus. 杀害图特王的凶手可能是河马

Surprisingly little is known about the life of the boy pharaoh Tutankha

men, but some historiansbelieve they know how he died. Scans of the young king's body show that he was embalmedwithout his heart or his chest wall. This drastic departure from traditional Egyptian burialpractice suggests that he may have suffered a horrific injury prior to his death. According to ahandful of Egyptologists, one of the most likely causes for this wound would have been a bitefrom a hippopotamus. Evidence indicates that the Egyptians hunted the beasts for sport, andstatues found in King Tut's tomb even depict him in the act of throwing a harpoon. If the boypharaoh was indeed fond of stalking dangerous game, then his death might have been theresult of a hunt gone wrong.

令人惊奇的是，人们对图坦卡蒙这位少年法老知之甚少，但一些史学家相信自己已掌握了他真正的死因。少年身上的伤口显示：在进行尸体防腐处理时，尸体里并没有心脏和胸壁。这种另类的处理方式表明，法老在逝世前受了很严重的外伤。一部分埃及古物学者认为，这一致命伤口可能是河马咬的。史料显示，埃及人的确把追猎河马当作运动，而少年法老的墓室里也有他高举鱼叉的塑像。如果这位法老那么执着于危险游戏，那只能说这次是真的玩大了。 9. Some Egyptian doctors had specialized fields of study. 部分埃及医生开始细化医学研究

An ancient physician was usually a jack-of-all-trades, but evidence shows that Egyptiandoctors sometimes focused on healing only one part of the human body. This early form ofmedical specialization was first noted in 450 B.C. by the traveler and historian Herodotus.Discussing Egyptian medicine, he wrote,

“Each physician is a healer of one disease and nomore?some of the ey

e, some of the teeth, some of what pertains to the belly.” Thesespecialists even had specific names. Dentists were known as “doctors of the tooth,” while theterm for proctologists literally translates to “shepherd of the anus.”

一般说来，埃及的内科医师都是多面手，但也有史料显示，部分医师有时只专注于治疗人体某个部位。公元前450年，旅行家及史学家西罗多德率先发现了这种早期的医学专门化研究。谈及埃及医学，他写道：“每位医师负责研究一种疾病，仅限一种??一些研究眼睛，一些研究牙齿，一些研究肚子里的器官。”而且，这些医师还有各自的名字，如牙医被称为“牙齿专用医师”，而直肠病医师的名称直译过来则是“肛门看护员”。 10. Egyptians kept many animals as pets. 埃及人把很多动物养作宠物

The Egyptians saw animals as incarnations of the gods and were one of the first civilizations tokeep household pets. Egyptians were particularly fond of cats, which were associated with thegoddess Bastet, but they also had a reverence for hawks, ibises, dogs, lions and baboons.Many of these animals held a special place in the Egyptian home, and they were oftenmummified and buried with their owners after they died. Other creatures were specially trainedto work as helper animals. Egyptian police officers, for example, were known to use dogs andeven trained monkeys to assist them when out on patrol.

埃及人将动物视为神灵的化身，创造了最早饲养家庭宠物的文明之一。埃及人还特别钟情于猫，因为猫总和太阳神的女儿芭丝特联系在一块。他们还尊敬其他动物，包括鹰、朱鹭、狗、狮子以及狒狒。大部分动物在家中的地位都不一般，死后常常会被做成木乃伊，成为主人的陪葬品。