The Israeli park with a valuable secret

以色列公园地下的隐秘宝藏

　　In Israel’s Negev Desert, a side road leads to a valley ringed by red, purple and brown cliffs. Now part of Timna National Park, this valley is famous for its jagged landscape carved by wind and water over many millennia. Tourists and geologists alike come here to admire rock formations shaped like giant mushrooms, elegant pillars and delicate arches.

　　在以色列内盖夫沙漠(Negev Desert)，有一条岔道通向一片山谷。这片山谷被或红或紫或棕色的耀眼岩壁环绕。这个山谷属于提姆纳国家公园的一部分，因其千年来被谷间的风雨雕琢出嵯峨嶙峋的岩石景观而闻名。游客与地质学家都喜欢来这里瞻仰经千百万年风雨侵蚀如鬼斧神工的沙岩峭壁，它们有些像巨大的蘑菇，有些像粗壮的象腿，还有些则像宏美的拱门。

　　It was mid-morning when I set off on a short hike, and the sun was already blazing hot. From a trailhead near the park’s famous coral-coloured rock formation known as the Arches, I ascended a small hill and within 10 minutes stood atop a plateau. From up here I could see the valley’s rugged terrain, with cliffs above and canyons below.

　　某日半晌午时分，艳阳高照，我出发去短途徒步。从提姆纳公园最出名的一处名为“拱门”的珊瑚色岩石附近的入口出发后，我爬上一座小山丘。不到十分钟，就登顶了。站在高岗上，我看见这片山谷崎岖嶙峋，上有陡崖，下有峡谷。

　　As amazing as the scenery was, the full story of this place – and the reason why people flocked to this harsh landscape in prehistoric times – can only be experienced by heading underground.

　　这里的风景虽壮丽，但关于这片地方真正的来龙去脉以及为何远古时期人们会蜂拥来到这片不毛之地，只有深入地下才能探出个究竟。

　　Timna National Park was once one of the centres of metal production in the ancient world; here, thousands of mining shafts and tunnels were painstakingly bored to harvest the copper embedded in the stone.

　　提姆纳国家公园所在的区域曾是人类远古时代的一个金属制造中心。在这里，古代工人辛苦挖掘出成千上万的矿井和隧道用来开采岩石里的铜金属。

　　Specks of green and blue copper ore dotted the gravel-covered trail as I approached the park’s oldest mines, dug as early as 4500BC. Metal handrails help visitors navigate a few metres down a steep slope to enter the mine, a narrow passageway with ceilings so low I had to crawl on my hands and knees to avoid hitting my head. Beams of light shone into the tunnel from openings that have emerged over the years from erosion, exposing the vertical scores on the walls left by the stone tools used to carve the cavity into the Earth.

　　我沿着一条小道走近公园内年代最久远的一处采矿场，其挖掘年代竟然远至公元前4500年。砾石覆盖的小道上还能看见蓝绿色的铜绿印记斑斑。游客能攀着金属扶梯顺着陡峭的坡再往下走个几米，进到矿井里面。通道非常低矮，我必须蜷曲着身子，四肢爬行以防磕着脑袋。矿井的入口因岁月的侵蚀才显露出来。有微弱光线从入口处照进来，照见了洞内墙上垂直排列的标记，这是古代工人用石器在墙上凿出来的。

　　The caverns and shafts throughout Timna National Park reveal thousands of years of mining history. Evidence has been found linking these mines to Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom, which existed from the 16th through the early 11th Centuries BC. Copper from here enriched the series of Ramses pharaohs who used it for everything from weapons to jewellery. However, further evidence shows that mining here reached its peak several hundred years later. High-resolution radiocarbon dating of seeds and other organic matter left in the miners’ work camps indicates the mines were active between the 11th and 9th Centuries BC, lending credence to theories that Timna was the source of copper for the biblical King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem.

　　提姆纳国家公园里星罗密布的矿洞与矿井向我们展现了采矿业几千年来的历史。考古学家有证据表明，这些矿场与始于公元前16世纪终于前11世纪的古埃及新王国时期也有关联。这里开采的铜矿资源被这时期各朝的法老们广泛使用，制作成武器、珠宝装饰品等。同时也有证据表明，这里的采矿业是在埃及新王国时期的几百年后才发展至顶峰的。通过高像素的放射性碳定年法，专家对矿工们居住的工作棚里留下来的食物种子和其他有机物进行年份推断，发现这些采矿场最为活跃的时期是公元前十一世纪至公元前九世纪。因此有人推论说，提姆纳矿区是建造耶路撒冷所罗门王圣殿所用铜金属的来源。

　　And until recently, experts assumed the gruelling manual labour had been done by slaves. But archaeological findings over the last few years, including high-quality dyed fabrics preserved by the dry climate, indicate that the metalworkers were employed rather than enslaved. Remains of sheep and goat bones as well as date and olive pits also suggest that the workers ate a rich diet of foods not usually found in the desert.

　　直到近期之前，专家们都认为指出这么艰辛的手工采矿作业应该是由奴隶完成的。但几年前，考古学家在此地的发现，包括因气候干燥而被完好留存下来的矿工先前使用的染布织物，说明这些矿工是被雇佣，而并非被奴役的。同时，采矿场里山羊等牲畜的骨头遗骸和遗留的枣核、橄榄核也说明这些工人的膳食丰盛，这些都不是沙漠里常见的食物。

　　By this time, people had learned how to shape the copper found in Timna’s mines into tools and weapons, and how to mix it with tin to create bronze, a much stronger material. Evidence of this early metalworking is on display in museums around the world. Tel Aviv’s Eretz Israel Museum has the largest collection of artefacts from Timna, including copper chisels used for mining and a bronze serpent found in a local temple.

　　那时的人们就知道如何将提姆纳矿区采集的铜金属做成工具和武器，也掌握了混合铜和锡冶炼出更为坚硬的青铜的技艺。有关早期的金属加工术的历史记录在目前世界各地的博物馆都能够看到。特拉维夫大学的埃雷兹以色列博物馆目前馆藏最多从提姆纳矿区收集来的文物。展品中还包括挖矿用的铜质凿子和一条从当地的寺庙发现的铜蛇等。

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