going to talk about Egypt.

要談論的是埃及。

No, not that Egypt.

不是那個埃及。

Older.

更古老點。

Older.

更古老。

Older.

再更古老。

Less fictional. Yes, that one.

少點虛構。對，就是那個。

Ancient Egypt is probably the most influential of the river valley civilizations.

古埃及可能是流域文明中最具影響力的。

Like you might not recognize any Assyrian Kings or Assyrian language,

就像你或許不認得任何一個亞述國王或亞述語言

but you probably do know King Tut.

不過你應該知道圖特國王是誰。

And you may recognize that the Eye of Horus is right now staring at me and judging me.

而且你可能認得荷魯斯之眼，祂現在正注視著我並審判我。

I can feel, I can feel your judgement.

我能夠感受到，我能夠感受到祢的審判。

[music intro]

[音樂前奏]

[music intro]

[音樂前奏]

[music intro]

[音樂前奏]

[music intro]

[音樂前奏]

[music intro]

[音樂前奏]

[music intro]

[音樂前奏]

When we think of Ancient Civilizations, we think of Egypt. There are a few reasons for

當我們想到古文明，我們就會聯想到埃及。這是有幾個原因的

this, like the fact that the pyramids are the last man standing among the Seven Ancient

例如金字塔是世界七大奇觀中

Wonders of the World. But more importantly, Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted from

碩果僅存的。但更重要的是，古埃及文明從西元前

3000 BCE to 332 BCE. That’s a period that historians call a long-ass time. And I will

3 千年持續到西元前 332 年。歷史學家稱此一時期為「long-ass time」。我必須

remind you it is not cursing if you're talking about donkeys.

提醒你這並不算是粗話，如果你指的是驢子的話。

So there are many approaches to the study of history. You could view history as a millennial

研究歷史的方法很多，你可以將歷史視為千禧年

long conversation about philosophy or as clashes between great men or you can see history through

關於哲學的一場漫長談話，或是偉人間的衝突，抑或是透過

the lens of traditionally neglected populations, like women or indigenous peoples or slaves.

傳統上那些被忽視的人們的視角，那些女性、原住民和奴隸們。

And we’re going to try to take many approaches to our study of history during Crash Course.

而我們將在 Crash Course 中儘可能嘗試不同的方法來研究歷史。

Mr. Green, Mr. Green, which approach is right? I mean, for the test.

Mr. Green，Mr. Green，哪一種方式是對的？如果是為了應付考試的話。

Oh me-from-the-past. Remember how you spent all of third year French writing notes back

噢，從前的我。記得你是如何利用整個三年級的法文課和那個女孩

and forth to that girl and she eventually agreed to go out with you and you did make

互傳紙條，而她終於同意與你約會而你們也真的發展到

it to second base but now you can hardly parle un mot de francais?

二壘，可是你現在卻連法文都不會？

Historical lenses are like that, my friend: With every choice, something is gained and

我的朋友，歷史鏡頭也是如此：伴隨每一個選擇，你得到一些也

something is lost.

失去一些。

Right, so in discussing agriculture and early civilizations, we’ve been approaching history

好的，所以在討論農業和早期文明時，我們一直以資源分配

through the lens of resource distribution and geography.

和地理的角度來探討歷史。

And just as the violent and capricious Tigris and Euphrates rivers shaped the worldview

正如猛烈而善變的底格里斯河和幼發拉底河塑造出早期美索不達米亞人

of early Mesopotamians, the Nile shaped the world view of the Egyptians. Let’s go to

的世界觀，尼羅河也塑造出埃及人的。讓我們來看一下

the Thought Bubble.

Thought Bubble。

The Nile was regular, navigable, and benign, making for one of the safest and richest agricultural

尼羅河是一條有系統、可航行、良性的，世界最安全、最肥沃的

areas in the world. Each summer the river flooded the fields at precisely the right

農業區之一。每年夏天尼羅河會在準確的時間點淹沒

time, leaving behind nutrient-rich silt for planting season.

田地，為播種季節留下養分充足的淤泥。

Planting was so easy that Egyptians just tossed seeds around the silty earth and then let

栽種是如此地容易，埃及人只需將種子隨手扔在淤泥上並讓

their cattle or pigs walk on it to press the seeds into the ground, and then boom, grain

牛隻或豬隻在上面行走，將種子壓入土壤中，於是就有穀子

and figs and wheat and pomegranates and melons and joy.

、無花果、小麥、石榴、甜瓜和喜悅。

Unlike most river valley civilizations, Egyptian communities existed ONLY along the Nile, which

與絕大多數的流域文明不同，埃及人的社會僅存與尼羅河沿岸一帶，那裡

was navigable enough to get valuable resources downstream from timber to gold, which the

能夠通船，順流而下可以獲取從木材到黃金不等的珍貴資源。埃及人

Egyptians considered the divine metal, thereby introducing an idea that would eventually

提出一個想法，將黃金視為神聖的金屬，而此一想法最終在圖特國王

culminate in Mr. T.

時期達到頂點。

The Nile is also easily tamed. While other river valley civilizations needed complicated

尼羅河也很容易開發。當其他流域文明需要複雜

and labor-intensive hydraulic engineering projects to irrigate crops, the Nile was so

且勞力密集的水利工程來灌溉農作物時，尼羅河是那麼

chill that Egyptians could use a simple form of water management called basin irrigation,

地平靜，埃及人只需利用一個叫做「盆地灌溉」的簡易水資源管理模式

in which farmers used floodwaters to fill earthen basins and canals for irrigation.

農人藉由洪水填滿土盆及運河來灌溉。

In short, the awesomeness of the Nile meant Egyptians could create big food surpluses

總之，尼羅河的絕妙之處在於埃及人能夠付出較少的勞力

with relatively little work, allowing time and energy for some pretty impressive projects.

創造出大量豐餘的食物，讓他們能夠將時間和精力運用在其他令人讚嘆的工程上。

Also, the Nile may help explain the ancient Egypt’s general optimism :

此外，尼羅河或許有助於解釋古埃及人普遍的樂觀態度：

While ancient Sumerian religion, for instance, saw the afterlife as this gloomy, dark place,

舉例來說，當古蘇美人的宗教認為來世是一個悲觀且黑暗的地方

Egyptians were often buried with things that were useful and pleasurable to them in life,

埃及人通常和一些生前對於他們有幫助並且帶來歡愉的東西一起埋葬

because the Afterlife was seen as a continuation of this life, which, at least if you lived

因為他們視來生為今生的延續，也就是，如果你今世生活在

along the Nile, wasn’t half-bad.

尼羅河沿岸，那就已經不算太差了。

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

謝謝 Thought Bubble。

And now, my dear pupils, I shall terrorize you with the oppression of dates. No. Dates.

那麼現在，我親愛的學生們，我要以沈悶的海棗來恐嚇你們。不是，是日期。

Yes. Thank you.

對，謝謝。

Historians have divided Egyptian history into three broad categories. Each with their own

歷史學家將埃及歷史劃分為三大類，每個都有屬於自己

numbered dynasties. But only hardcore Egyptologists know the dynasties, and we’re not trying

的朝代編號。不過只有很厲害的埃及古物學者才知道這些王朝，而我們並沒有嘗試

to become hardcore Egyptologists.

要成為他們。

The Old Kingdom lasted from 2649 to 2152;

古王國時期是從西元前 2469 年到 2152 年；

The middle kingdom from 2040 to 1640;

中王國時期是從西元前 2040 年到 1640 年；

And the New Kingdom, so called because it is only 3,000 years old, lasted from 1550-1070

所謂新王國時期，因為只有 3 千年的歷史，可追溯到從西元前 1550 年

BCE.

到 1070 年。

In between you have a couple so-called Intermediate periods. Okay, OLD KINGDOM.

在其中還有所謂的中間時期。好的，古王國。

This was really the glory age of ancient Egypt, when we get all the stuff that will later

它真的是古埃及的輝煌時代，讓我們得到所有使印第安那瓊斯這部片

make Indiana Jones possible,

得以問世的素材

like the pyramids at Giza,

像是吉薩的金字塔

and the sun king Ra,

和太陽神拉

and the idea of divine kingship.

以及神聖王權的構想。

which seems like a good gig, except that it meant that he wasn’t expected to act like

這看來是個很好的演出，除了印第安那瓊斯不被期待演得像

a person, he was expected to act like a god, which in ancient Egypt means acting like the

個人，而是要像個神，對於古埃及而言就是要演得和

Nile: calm, cool, benevolent... There’s no fun it that.

尼羅河一樣：平靜、沈穩而仁慈...那並不容易。

And then of course there are the pyramids, which aside from remaining impressive to behold

當然還有金字塔，不只是看了讓人印象深刻

represent a remarkable degree of political and social control over the population, because

同時代表著對於人口高度控制的一個政治和社會，畢竟

it is not easy to convince people to devote their lives to building a sarcophagus for

要說服人們奉獻他們的生命去建造他人

someone else.

的石棺並不是件容易的事。

The most famous pyramids were built between 2575 and 2465 BCE.

最著名的金字塔建造於西元前 2575 和 2465 年之間。

The one with the Sphinx was for Khephren;

這個人面獅身是給卡夫拉的；

the largest, the Great Pyramid, was built for the Pharaoh Khufu.

最大的，大金字塔，是為了法老胡夫所建造。

These pyramids were built partly by peasants who were required by Egyptian law to work

這些金字塔一部分是由農民建造，他們受到埃及法律規定每年

for the government a certain number of months per year,

必須替政府工作幾個月的時間

and partly by slaves, but not by Moses and the Jews, who showed up on the scene long

一部分由奴隸建造，不過不是由摩西和猶太人，他們早在金字塔連八字都沒有一撇時

before pyramids were ever even a twinkle in Khufu’s eye.

就出現在哪裡了。

This leads to an overwhelming question: Why? Why in the sweet name of Ra would anyone ever

這引出一個壓倒性的問題：為什麼？究竟為什麼會有人以神之名

build such a thing?

建造這樣的東西？

Well, let’s start with Ra. So, Ra started out as a regional god, reigning over Heliopolis,

好的，讓我們先從拉開始，拉一開始是地方神祇，統治著赫利奧普里斯，

but he eventually became really central to the entire pantheon of gods of ancient Egypt.

但最終祂成為古埃及整個萬神殿的中心。

He was the god of the sun, but also the god of creation.

他是太陽神，也是造物神。

And the thinking was that if humans did their jobs then the pantheon of gods would maintain

當時的思想是如果人類做他們的工作，那麼眾神將維持

cosmic order, and since the pharaohs became gods upon their death, it made sense to please

宇宙秩序，而既然法老王在死後成為諸神之一，因此即便是建造金字塔

them even unto pyramids.

去取悅他們也是合理的。

Egyptian popular religion also embraced the belief in amulets and magic and divination

埃及人的通俗信仰還包含相信護身符、魔術、占卜

and the belief that certain animals--

和某些動物。

especially cats—had divine power.

特別是貓－擁有神力。

And yes, I did bring that up just so I could lolcat.

沒錯，我提出來是因為這樣我就可以幫貓加上有趣的對白。

Old Kingdom Egypt was also remarkably literate:

埃及古王國的文學也十分發達：

They had two forms of writing, hieroglyphics for sacred writing and then demotic script

他們有兩種書寫的方式，一種是神聖的象形文字，另一種是通俗手寫體

for recording contracts and agreements and other boring stuff.

用於記錄契約、協議和其他無聊的東西。

The last thing I want to say about Old Kingdom Egypt; it was ridiculously rich.

關於埃及古王國最後一件我想說的是；它是富裕得很離譜。

But then around 2250 BCE there were a series of droughts and Pharaohs started fighting

不過在西元前 2250 年左右因為連續的乾旱，法老們開始為了

over who should have power and we had an intermediate period.

誰應該擁有權力而大動干戈，因此我們才有中間時期。

[classic intermission music]

[經典中場音樂]

Which was followed by the Middle Earth...

接著是中土世界...

No, what? The middle kingdom? Ohh. Really? That’s a bummer, Stan. I want it to be the

什麼，不是？是中王國？噢，真的嗎？真可惜，Stan。我希望它是

Middle Earth. How awesome would that be? Like right in the middle of Egyptian history, there

中土世界。那會有多酷啊？就在埃及歷史中，有

were Hobbits....

霍比特人...

So the Middle Kingdom, which apparently had no Hobbits, restored Pharaonic rule in 2040

很顯然沒有霍比特人的中王國在西元前 2040 年恢復了法老統治

BCE but with some distinct changes:

但是出現了一些顯著的變化:

First, the rulers were outsiders, from downriver in Nubia. Second, they fostered a new pantheon

首先，統治者是從努比亞下游而來的局外人。再者，他們促成一個新的

of gods, the star of which was Ammun, which means hidden.

眾神殿，崛起的神祇是阿蒙神，祂名字的意思是隱藏。

So here’s a little lesson from history: Hidden gods tend to do well because they’re

因此從歷史上我們學到一課: 隱藏的神祇往往表現出色，因為祂們是

omnipresent.

無所不在的。

So Ammun eventually merged with Ra to form the god Ammun-Ra, who was like the best god

最終阿蒙神和拉神結合成為阿蒙拉神，就像有史以來最好的神祇一樣

ever and all the Middle Kingdom pharaohs made temples for him and devoted all of their surplus

所有中王國時期的法老都替祂建造神廟，並將他們的豐盈

to his glory.

歸功於祂。

The Middle Kingdom also developed an interest in conquering, specifically the new homeland

中王國時期同時對軍事征服產生了興趣，特別是努比亞的新

of Nubia, and they developed a side interest in getting conquered, specifically by Semitic

家，而他們也產生了另一個興趣就是被統治，特別是被來自黎凡特

peoples from the Levant.

的閃族人。

They were able to conquer much of Egypt using superior military technology like bronze weapons

他們能夠使用優良的軍事技術像是銅製武器

and compound bows, and chariots of fire. What? They were just regular chariots? STAN WHY

和複合弓以及火戰車。什麼？它們只是普通的戰車？Stan 為什麼

ARE YOU ALWATS KILLING MY DREAMS?

你總是要扼殺我的美夢？

One group, the Hyksos, were able to conquer all of Egypt, but rather than like destroying

一群叫做希克索斯人的，征服了整個埃及，然而他們並沒有摧毀

the Egyptian culture, they just relaxed like the Nile and assimilated into the Egyptians.

埃及文化，而是像尼羅河一般的從容並同化成為埃及人。

And the Egyptians adopted their military technology. And then the Egyptians destroyed the Hyksos

埃及人採用他們的軍事技術，然後殲滅希克索斯人

and expelled them from Egypt.

並將他們驅逐出埃及。

And then by 1550 BCE there was again an Egyptian pharaoh, Ahmosis...

到了西元前 1550 年又再次出現埃及法老，雅赫摩斯...

...whose name only sounds like an STD.

...他的名字聽起來像是性病的一種。

Anyway, after all this conquering and being conquered, Egypt eventually emerged from its

總之，在所有的征服與被征服以後，埃及最終脫離在其

geographically imposed isolationism and, can you cue the New Kingdom Graphic please?

地理學上被強加的孤立主義，你能夠引用「新王國圖鑑嗎？」

There it is!

就是它！

New Kingdom Egypt continued this military expansion but it looked more like an Empire,

新王國時期埃及繼續軍事擴張，不過它看起來更像一個帝國

particularly when they headed south and took over land in an attempt to find gold and slaves.

特別當他們前往南方掠奪土地以尋找黃金和奴隸時。

Probably the most expansive of the New Kingdom pharaohs was Hatshepsut, a woman who ruled

新王國時期擴張最迅速的法老是哈特謝普蘇特，她是一個女人，統治

Egypt for about 22 years.

埃及長達約 22 年之久。

And who expanded Egypt not through military might, but through trade.

她擴張埃及並不是藉由軍事武力，而是貿易。

But most new kingdom pharaohs being dudes, focused on military expansion, which brought

不過幾乎所有新王國時期的法老都是男性，聚焦於軍事擴張，使得

Egypt into conflicts with the Assyrians who you’ll remember from last week,

埃及和我們上個禮拜提到的亞述人發生衝突

And then the Persians, and then Alexander the Great and finally, the Romans.

之後是波斯人、再來是亞歷山大大帝，最終是羅馬人。

On the whole, Egypt probably would’ve been better off enjoying its geographical isolation

基本上，如果埃及好好後享受它地理上的孤立會使它更好，而不是嘗試征服新領地

and not trying to conquer new territory, but all of Egypt’s friends had jumped off a

讓所有埃及的朋友們都離它而去

bridge, so…

所以...

One last thing about the New Kingdom. There was this crazy New Kingdom Pharaoh named Akehenaten,

關於新王國的最後一件事。有一位瘋狂的新王國法老，叫做阿肯那頓

who tried to invent a new god for Egypt, Aten.

他試圖為埃及發明一位叫做阿頓的新神。

Akehenaten was kind of the Kim Jong Il of Ancient Egypt, like he had this feared police

阿肯那頓有點像是古埃及的金正日，有一支令人恐懼的警備

force and this big cult of personality. And also he was a nut job.

部隊和對於個人崇拜的狂熱。他同時也是個瘋子。

Anyway, after his death he was replaced by his wife, and then a daughter and than a son,

總之，在他死之後, 他被自己的妻子替代，而後是女兒再來是兒子

Tutankaten, who turned his back on the weird god Aten and changed his name to Tutankhamen.

圖特卡滕祂背棄了古怪的阿頓神並將自己改名為圖坦卡門。

And that is about all King Tut did before he died...

這大概就是圖特國王去世前所做的一切...

...probably around the age of 17. Honestly, the only reason King Tut is famous is that

...大約在他 17 歲的時候。說實在的，圖特國王之所以有名是因為

most Pharaohs had their graves robbed by ancient people; and King Tut had his grave robbed

大部分法老的墳墓都讓古代人所掠奪；而圖特國王的墳墓則是在 20 世紀時

by 20th century British people.

被英國人所掠奪。

Which brings us to the Open Letter. [scoots to super sweet chartreuse throne] An Open

這將我們帶入一封公開信。[滑向上等漂亮黃綠色的王座] 一封給圖特國王

Letter to King Tut:

的公開信：

Oh, but first we gotta find out what Stan left for me in the Secret Compartment. It’s

噢，但首先我們先要弄清楚 Stan 在秘密隔間裡留給我什麼。是

a pen. [clicks pen] AAHHHH!! It’s a shock pen! Stan?%@#

一支筆。[按下筆] 啊！這是一支觸電筆！Stan ?%@#

That’s a terrible, terrible gift for the secret compartment.

真的很糟糕，一個放在秘密隔間裡的爛禮物。

Dear King Tut,

親愛的圖特國王

I know that as Pharaohs lives go, yours was pretty poor. First, you had to marry your

我明白身為一個法老，你算是非常不幸的。首先，您必須娶自己的

sister, which hopefully you weren’t that psyched about, plus you had a cleft palate

妹妹，希望您並不是那麼地瘋狂，加上你的唇顎裂

and probably scoliosis.

和脊椎側彎。

Plus you died before really reaching adulthood. But dude, you have had the best afterlife

另外您在成年之前就死了。但是，您擁有史上最棒的

ever.

來世。

Since your body was discovered in 1922, you’ve become probably the most famous ancient person.

自 1922 年發現您的遺體以來，您可能就成為史上最有名的古人。

There have been lots of books about you, scholars have devoted their lives to you.

關於您的書籍很多，學者們將一生奉獻給您。

Dude, we’re so obsessed with you that we used this fancy new technology to scan your

我們對您是如此著迷到我們使用最先進的科技來掃描您的

body and establish that you probably died of an infected broken leg and/or malaria,

身體以確認您應該是死於斷腿的感染或是瘧疾

So you’ve inspired such seminal works of art as the Discovery Kids series Tutenstein,

所以您啟發了像是兒童探索頻道 Tutenstein 這一系列的種子藝術作品

which my son forces me to watch.

我兒子強迫我看。

Your relics have been to six continents! So it all works out in the end, man.

您的遺物曾到過六大洲！所以最終一切都很順利。

Well, I mean, you’re still dead. So that’s kinda sucks.

我的意思是，雖然您還是死了。所以這點是有點糟。

Best wishes, John Green

最好的祝福，來自 John Green

King Tut leads us nicely to the really crucial thing about Egyptian culture.

圖特國王將我們帶領到關於埃及文化真正重要的方面。

Because King Tut lived right around the same time as the pyramids right? Wrong.

因為圖特國王和金字塔存在的事件相同？錯。

Remember the pyramids were built around 2500 BCE during the Old Kingdom. King Tut died

請記住，金字塔建造於西元前 2500 年左右的古王國時期。圖特國王死於

in 1322 BCE, 1200 years later!

西元前 1322 年，也就是 1200 年以後！

That’s five and a half Americas. But because Egypt was so similar for so long, it all tends

那是美國歷史的 5 倍半長。但是因為埃及長久以來對我們而言是那麼熟悉，當我們想像

to blend together when we imagine it.

它時很容易會搞混。

Ancient Egypt lasted 1000 years longer than Christianity has been around, and about 800

古埃及延續的時間比基督教時期長約 1 千年，比起另外一個

years longer than that other super-long lived civilization, China.

超長壽文明，中國，長約 8 百年。

So there was an entire culture that lasted longer than Western Civilization has existed

所以整個文化比西方文明的存在都要來得久

and it had run its course before “the West” was even born.

並在「西方」誕生以前就已經發展完成了。

Next week, we’ll look at the Persians and the Greeks. I’ll see you then.

下個禮拜，我們將來看波斯人和希臘人。我們到時見。

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller; The show is written by Raoul Meyer

Crash Course 是由 Stan Muller 製作導演；本節目由 Raoul Meyer，我的高中歷史老師

my high school history teacher and myself; our script supervisor is Danica Johnson and

和我撰寫；我們的腳本監督是 Danica Johnson

our graphics team is ThoughtBubble.

我們的圖畫團隊是 Thought Bubble。

Last week’s phrase of the week was “Male Models.” You can take your guess at this

上禮拜的一週短語是「男模」。你可以在留言版裡

week’s phrase of the week in Comments and also suggest future phrases of the week.

猜猜看本週的一週短語和建議未來的一週短語。

And if you have any questions about today’s video, leave them in Comments and our team

如果你有任何與今天影片相關的問題，請在留言板上發言，我們半專業

of semi-professional quasi-historians will endeavor to answer them as best we can.

類歷史學加的團隊將竭盡所能去回答。

Thanks for watching and as we say in my hometown: Don’t forget to be awesome.