劍橋雅思 17 閱讀原文翻譯 T2P1—The Dead Sea Scrolls

本篇文章共分 7 段，從這批在文化上堪稱是無價之寶的經卷如何發現、紙墨材質、內容數量、學界與宗教反應、奇聞軼事一路說到目前學者破譯的成果以及對於歷史的重新認知。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

1. 意外的發現

   In late 1946 or early 1947, three Bedouin teenagers were tending their goats and sheep near the ancient settlement of Qumran, located on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in what is now known as the West Bank. One of these young shepherds tossed a rock into an opening on the side of a cliff and was surprised to hear a shattering sound. He and his companions later entered the cave and stumbled across a collection of large clay jars, seven of which contained scrolls with writing on them. The teenagers took the seven scrolls to a nearby town where they were sold for a small sum to a local antiquities dealer. Word of the find spread, and Bedouins and archaeologists eventually unearthed tens of thousands of additional scroll fragments from 10 nearby caves; together they make up between 800 and 900 manuscripts. It soon became clear that this was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made.

   1946 年底或 1947 年初，三個貝都因少年在庫姆蘭古代村落遺址附近照看他們的山羊，該遺址位於現在被稱為西岸的死海西北岸。其中一名年輕的牧羊人將一塊石頭扔進了懸崖邊上的一個洞口，驚訝地聽到了破碎的聲音。他和他的同伴們後來進入山洞，意外發現了一批大型黏土罐，其中七個罐子裡有寫著字的卷軸。少年們把這七幅卷軸帶到了附近的一個小鎮，在那裡這批卷軸以小小的金額賣給了當地的一位古董商。此一發現的消息傳開了，貝都因人和考古學家最終從附近的 10個洞穴中又發掘出了數以萬計的卷軸碎片；它們加起來有 800 至 900份手稿。很快就可以看出，這是有史以來最偉大的考古發現之一。

2. 經卷起源

   The origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written around 2,000 years ago between 150 BCE and 70 CE, is still the subject of scholarly debate even today. According to the prevailing theory, they are the work of a population that inhabited the area until Roman troops destroyed the settlement around 70 CE. The area was known as Judea at that time, and the people are thought to have belonged to a group called the Essenes, a devout Jewish sect.

   死海經卷寫於大約 2000 年前，即西元前 150 年至西元前 70 年之間，其起源即使在今天仍然是學術界爭論的主題。根據主要的理論， 它們是居住在該地區的人口的作品，直到羅馬軍隊在西元 70 年左右摧毀了該地。當時該地區被稱為猶太區，這些人被認為是屬於一個叫做埃塞尼的團體，是一個虔誠的猶太教派。

3. 書寫文字

   The majority of the texts on the Dead Sea Scrolls are in Hebrew, with some fragments written in an ancient version of its alphabet thought to have fallen out of use in the fifth century BCE. But there are other languages as well. Some scrolls are in Aramaic, the language spoken by many inhabitants of the region from the sixth century BCE to the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In addition, several texts feature translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek.

   死海經卷上的大部分文字都是希伯來語，其中一些片段是用一種古老的字母書寫的，被認為在西元前五世紀就已經停止使用了。但也有其他語言。一些卷軸使用的是阿拉姆語，這是西元前六世紀至西元 70 年耶路撒冷被圍困期間該地區許多居民使用的語言。此外，一些文本的特點是將希伯來語聖經翻譯成希臘語。

4. 經卷內容

   The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament of the Bible except for the Book of Esther. The only entire book of the Hebrew Bible preserved among the manuscripts from Qumran is Isaiah; this copy, dated to the first century BCE, is considered the earliest biblical manuscript still in existence. Along with biblical texts, the scrolls include documents about sectarian regulations and religious writings that do not appear in the Old Testament.

   死海經卷包括《聖經》舊約中除《以撒帖記》之外的每一書的片段。庫姆蘭的手稿中唯一保存下來的希伯來聖經全書是以賽亞書； 這個版本的年代是西元前一世紀，被認為是現存最早的聖經手稿。除了聖經文本外，卷軸還包括關於教派法規的文件以及《舊約》中沒有出現的宗教著作。

5. 紙墨與特別內容

   The writing on the Dead Sea Scrolls is mostly in black or occasionally red ink, and the scrolls themselves are nearly all made of either parchment (animal skin) or an early form of paper called ‘papyrus’. The only exception is the scroll numbered 3Q15, which was created out of a combination of copper and tin. Known as the Copper Scroll, this curious document features letters chiselled onto metal – perhaps, as some have theorized, to better withstand the passage of time. One of the most intriguing manuscripts from Qumran, this is a sort of ancient treasure map that lists dozens of gold and silver caches. Using an unconventional vocabulary and odd spelling, it describes 64 underground hiding places that supposedly contain riches buried for safekeeping. None of these hoards have been recovered, possibly because the Romans pillaged Judea during the first century CE. According to various hypotheses, the treasure belonged to local people, or was rescued from the Second Temple before its destruction or never existed to begin with.

   死海經卷上的文字大多是黑色或偶爾是紅色的墨水，古卷本身幾乎都是由羊皮紙（動物皮）或一種稱為 “紙莎草” 的早期紙張形式製成。唯一的例外是編號為 3Q15 的卷軸，它是由銅和錫組合而成的。這份奇特的文件被稱為 “銅卷”，其特點是將字母鑿在金屬上—也許正如一些人所推測的那樣，是為了更有效地承受歲月的流逝。這是庫姆蘭最有趣的手稿之一，它是一種古代藏寶圖，列出了幾十個金銀藏匿處。它使用了非常規的詞彙和奇怪的拼寫，描述了 64 個地下藏匿點，據信這些地點都存有為了安全保存而埋藏的財富。這些囤積物都沒有被找到，可能是因為羅馬人在西元一世紀期間掠奪了猶太地區。根據各種假設，這些寶藏屬於當地人，或者是在第二聖殿被毀之前就已搶救出來的，或者一開始就不存在。

6. 奇聞軼事

   Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been on interesting journeys. In 1948, a Syrian Orthodox archbishop known as Mar Samuel acquired four of the original seven scrolls from a Jerusalem shoemaker and part-time antiquity dealer, paying less than $100 for them. He then travelled to the United States and unsuccessfully offered them to a number of universities, including Yale. Finally, in 1954, he placed an advertisement in the business newspaper The Wall Street Journal- under the category ‘Miscellaneous Items for Sale’ – that read: ‘Biblical Manuscripts dating back to at least 200 B.C. are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group.’ Fortunately, Israeli archaeologist and statesman Yigael Yadin negotiated their purchase and brought the scrolls back to Jerusalem, where they remain to this day.

   一些死海經卷經歷了有趣的旅程。1948 年，一位被稱為 Mar Samuel 的敘利亞東正教大主教從一個耶路撒冷的鞋匠和兼職古董商那裡獲得了原始七卷中的四卷，支付了不到 100 美元。然後他來到美國，向包括耶魯大學在內的多所大學提供這些卷軸，但未獲成功。最後，在 1954 年，他在商業報紙《華爾街日報》的 “雜項出售” 類別下刊登了一則廣告，內容是： “《聖經》手稿至少可追溯到西元前 200年，正在出售。這將是個人或團體送給教育或宗教機構的一份理想禮物。” 幸運的是，以色列考古學家和政治家Yigael Yadin 通過談判買下了這些手稿，並將其帶回了耶路撒冷，直到今天它們還在那裡。

7. 經卷破譯現況

   In 2017, researchers from the University of Haifa restored and deciphered one of the last untranslated scrolls. The university’s Eshbal Ratson and Jonathan Ben-Dov spent one year reassembling the 60 fragments that make up the scroll. Deciphered from a band of coded text on parchment, the find provides insight into the community of people who wrote it and the 364-day calendar they would have used. The scroll names celebrations that indicate shifts in seasons and details two yearly religious events known from another Dead Sea Scroll. Only one more known scroll remains untranslated.

   2017 年，海法大學的研究人員修復並破譯了最後一批未翻譯的卷軸之一。該大學的 Eshbal Ratson 和 Jonathan Ben-Dov 花了一年時間重新組合了構成該卷軸的 60 份斷簡殘篇。通過破譯羊皮紙上的一段編碼文字，這一發現使人們瞭解了書寫該卷軸的一群人以及他們可能使用的 364 天日曆。該卷軸列出了表明季節變化的慶祝活動，並詳細說明了另一個死海經卷中已知的兩項年度宗教活動。在已知的經卷中，只剩一卷仍未翻譯。