『新东方在线托福听力』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 25 Lec 3听力练习：Why was ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing difficult for scholars to interpret?原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 25 Lec 3听力原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 25 Lec 3听力原文Why was ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing difficult for scholars to interpret?【新东方在线】

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a history class.

The professor has been discussing Egyptian hieroglyphs.

教授：埃及象形文字是在古埃及墙壁、纪念碑、寺庙内部及外部发现的埃及文字。

Professor: Egyptian hieroglyphs are the ancient Egyptian writings found in ancient Egypt on walls, monuments and on the inside and outside of temples.

象形文字在大约1600年前突然消失了。

Hieroglyphic writing ended abruptly about 1600 years ago.

并且，它困惑了研究埃及遗物和考古学最聪明的人很多很多世纪。

And it mystified the most brilliant minds in the study of Egyptian artifacts and archaeology for many many centuries.

最终，随着1799年罗塞达石的发现，破译象形文字的可能产生了。

Finally, the possibility of deciphering Hieroglyphs came about with the discovery, in 1799, of the Rosetta Stone.

罗塞达石可能是发现的最著名的考古遗物。

The Rosetta Stone is arguably the most famous archaeological artifact ever discovered.

它包含了同3种文字写的相同文本：希腊语、世俗体、圣书体（埃及象形文字）。

It contains the same exact text written in three different alphabets: Greek, Demotic, and Hieroglyphic.

但是，我们一开始甚至都不知道在罗塞达石上的3个文本包含着相同的信息。

But we didn't even know at first that the three texts on the Rosetta Stone contain the same information.

三种文字中的两种已经停止使用了：象形文字和世俗体。

And two of the three alphabets are ancient Egyptian scripts that stop being used: the hieroglyphic and the demotic.

在罗塞达石上发现的世俗体手记，世俗体并不像象形文字那么复杂。

The demotic script found on the Rosetta Stone, well, Demotic was not as elaborate as Hieroglyphic writing.

它在更加世俗中的事物中被使用，比如行政文件。

It was used for more mundane matters, oh, like administrative documents.

这些古埃及手稿被科普特语手稿取代。

These ancient Egyptian scripts were replaced by Coptic scripts.

但是最终，阿拉伯语取代了科普特语，并且这个切断了古埃及和现在埃及的语言联系。

But eventually, the Arabic language replaced Coptic and this cut off the linguistic link between ancient and modern Egypt.

现在，罗塞达石是非常值得注意的，因为就如我说的，在它上面有用3种不同文字写的同一段原文，希腊语、世俗体和圣书体。

Now, the Rosetta Stone was remarkable because as I said, on it, was the same text in three different alphabets: Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphic.

这个石头基本上就是学者们需要用来解读象形文字的词典。

The Stone was essentially the dictionary that scholars needed to interpret the meaning of the hieroglyphs.

并且它使得独特装备的研究人员最终去破译和理解石头上写的到底是什么。

And it took a uniquely equipped researcher to finally decipher and understand what was written on the stone.

英国学者托马斯•杨是第一个认真尝试去解读罗塞达石上符号的人。

Thomas young, an English scholar, was the first to seriously attempt to decipher the symbols on the Rosetta Stone.

他正确地怀疑圣书体是注音符号，它们代表它的声音，而不是图片。

He suspected rightly that the hieroglyphs were phonetic symbols, that they represented its sounds rather than pictures.

在此之前，所有的学者都认为圣书体是象形文字，他们象征着对象或概念。

Until then, all scholars assumed that hieroglyphs were pictographs, that they symbolize objects or concepts.

托马斯•杨着眼于在一组他认为可能会拼出一个字的象形文字上：一个国王或王后的名字。

Thomas Young focused his attention on one set of hieroglyphs that he thought would probably spell out a single word: the name of a King or Queen.

他猜测，这些符号所代表着早期埃及统治者托勒密的名字，因为在石头上也有用希腊语写的托勒密。

He guessed that the symbols represented the name of the early Egyptian ruler Ptolemy, since Ptolemy was also written in Greek on the stone and was indeed a Greek name.

事实上，杨证明这些圣书体代表声音，而不是整个单词。

And Young did actually prove that these Hieroglyphs represented sounds rather than whole words.

奇怪的是，他屈服于当时占据主导的论点，圣书体是象形字。

Strangely though, he gave into the dominant thesis of the day that Hieroglyphs were pictographs.

他居然驳回了他自己的调查结果，认为这个结果是异常的，因为托勒密王朝是希腊的，而不是埃及的。

He actually dismissed his own findings as an anomaly because the Ptolemaic dynasty was Greek, not Egyptian.

换句话说，他认为这是一个例外。

In other words, he figured it was an exception to the rule.

这是音标，因为它是希腊的，不是埃及的。

It was phonetic because it was Greek, not Egyptian.

否则埃及人怎可能描绘希腊的名字，而不将它拼出来呢？

How else could an Egyptian depict a Greek name other than spell it out?

而这给我们带来了我们的故事的主人公：让•弗朗索瓦•商博良。

And that brings us to the hero of our story: Jean-Francois Champollion.

商博良以杨的作品为基础，指出不同的圣书体拼写出国王和皇后的名字，例如亚历山大或者克利欧佩特拉。

Champollion built on Young's work, showing that different hieroglyphs spelled the names of Kings and Queens like Alexander or Cleopatra.

但他的批评者指出，这仍然不是传统的埃及名。

But his critics noted that this was still not traditional Egyptian names.

他并没有做得比杨做的更多，所以他无法反驳主导理论。

He hadn't done any more than Young had been able to do, so he couldn't disprove the dominant theory.

于是在1822年，商博良看到一组象形文字包含传统的埃及名字。

Then in 1822, Champollion was shown a set of hieroglyphs that contain traditional Egyptian names.

前两个符号是未知的，但商博良知道，右边重复的象形文字表示“S”的声音。

The first two of these symbols were unknown, but Champollion knew that the repeated hieroglyphs to the far right symbolized an "S" sound.

然后，他利用他的语言知识，去找到解决问题的方法。

He then drew on his linguistic knowledge to arrive at the solution to the problem.

你看，不同于其他曾试图破解密编码的学者，商博良正巧能流利地说科普特语。

You see, unlike any of the other scholars who had tried to crack the code, Champollion happened to be fluent in Coptic.

他想，这是真正的突破，科普特是否是用罗塞塔石碑上象形文字来表示的语言。

He wondered, and this was the real breakthrough, if Coptic was the language symbolized by the hieroglyphs on the Rosetta stone.

如果是这样，那么第一个盘状符号可能代表太阳。

And if so, then perhaps that first disc-shape symbol might represent the Sun.

科普特语表示太阳的文字是“RA”。

因此，如果符号是科普特语的，所述的第一符号是“RA”。

So if the symbol were Coptic, the first symbol would be "ra".

然后一个未知码元后跟着双“S”的音。

And then an unknown symbol followed by a double "S" sound.

在此，商博良想，这个名字Rameses吗？

Was this, Champollion wondered, the name Rameses?

He was eventually able to confirm that it was.

圣书体主要是音符，他们代表声音，而不是图片，基本的语言是科普特语。

Hieroglyphs were mainly phonetic, they represented sounds, not pictures, and the underlying language was Coptic.

大量的工作仍未解决，但商博良已破译了密码。

A lot of work remained, but Champollion had cracked the code.

What was demotic script used for in ancient Egypt?

Why was ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing difficult for scholars to interpret?

What is the professor's opinion about Thomas Young's work with hieroglyphs?

According to the professor, what led to the decoding of the Rosetta Stone?

How did Young's and Champollion's studies of hieroglyphs differ from earlier studies of hieroglyphic writing?

Narrator 
Listen to part of a lecture in a history class. The professor has been discussing Egyptian Hieroglyphs. 
Professor 
Egyptian Hieroglyphs are the ancient Egyptian writings found in ancient Egypt on walls, monuments and on the inside and outside of temples. Hieroglyphic writing ended abruptly about 1600 years ago. And it mystified the most brilliant minds in the study of Egyptian artifacts and archaeology for many many centuries. Finally, the possibility of deciphering hieroglyphs 
came about with the discovery, in 1799, of the Rosetta Stone. 
The Rosetta Stone is arguably the most famous archaeological artifact ever discovered. It contains the same exact text written in three different alphabets: Greek, demotic, hieroglyphic. 
But we didn't even know at first that the three texts on the Rosetta Stone contain the same information. And two of the three alphabets are ancient Egyptian scripts that stop being used: the hieroglyphic and the demotic. The demotic script found on the Rosetta Stone, well, demotic was not as elaborate as hieroglyphic writing. It was used for more mundane matters, oh, like administrative documents. These ancient Egyptian scripts were replaced by Coptic scripts. But eventually, the Arabic language replaced Coptic and this cut off the linguistic link between ancient and modern Egypt. 
The Rosetta Stone is arguably the most famous archaeological artifact ever discovered. It contains the same exact text written in three different alphabets: Greek, demotic, hieroglyphic. 
But we didn't even know at first that the three texts on the Rosetta Stone contain the same information. And two of the three alphabets are ancient Egyptian scripts that stop being used: the hieroglyphic and the demotic. The demotic script found on the Rosetta Stone, well, demotic was not as elaborate as hieroglyphic writing. It was used for more mundane matters, oh, like administrative documents. These ancient Egyptian scripts were replaced by Coptic scripts. But eventually, the Arabic language replaced Coptic and this cut off the linguistic link between ancient and modern Egypt. 
Now, the Rosetta Stone was remarkable because as I said, on it, was the same text in three different alphabets: Greek, demotic and hieroglyphic. The Stone was essentially the dictionary that scholars needed to interpret the meaning of the hieroglyphs. And it took a uniquely equipped researcher to finally decipher and understand what was written on the stone. 
Thomas young, an English scholar, was the first to seriously attempt to decipher the symbols on the Rosetta Stone. He suspected rightly that the hieroglyphs were phonetic symbols, that they represented its sounds rather than pictures. Until then, all scholars assumed that hieroglyphs were pictographs, that they symbolize objects or concepts. Thomas Young focused his attention on one set of hieroglyphs that he thought would probably spell out a single word: the name of a King 
or Queen. He guessed that the symbols represented the name of the early Egyptian ruler Ptolemy, since Ptolemy was also written in Greek on the stone and was indeed a Greek name. And Young did actually prove that these hieroglyphs represented sounds rather than whole words. Strangely though, he gave into the dominant thesis of the day that hieroglyphs were pictographs. He actually dismissed his own findings as an anomaly because the Ptolemaic dynasty was Greek, not Egyptian. in other words, he figured it was an exception to the rule. It was phonetic because it was Greek, not Egyptian. 
How else could an Egyptian depict a Greek name other than spell it out? And that brings us to the hero of our story: Jean-Francois Champollion. Champollion built on Young's work, showing that different hieroglyphs spelled the names of Kings and Queens like Alexander or Cleopatra. But his critics noted that this was still not traditional Egyptian names. He hadn't done any more than Young had been able to do, so he couldn't disprove the dominant theory. 
Then in 1822, Champollion was shown a set of hieroglyphs that contain traditional Egyptian names. The first two of these symbols were unknown, but Champollion knew that the repeated hieroglyphs to the far right symbolized an "S" sound. He then drew on his linguistic knowledge to arrive at the solution to the problem. You see, unlike any of the other scholars who had tried to crack the code, Champollion happened to be fluent in Coptic. He wondered, and this was the real breakthrough, if Coptic was the language symbolized by the hieroglyphs on the Rosetta stone. And if so, then perhaps that first disc-shape symbol might represent the Sun. And the Coptic word for Sun is "ra". See where this is headed? So if the symbol were Coptic, the first symbol would be "ra". And then an unknown symbol followed by a double "S" sound. Was this, Champollion wondered, the name Rameses1? He was eventually able to confirm that it was. So, he had figured it out Hieroglyphs were mainly phonetic, they represented sounds, not pictures, and the underlying language was Coptic. A lot of work remained, but Champollion had cracked the code. 
Thomas young, an English scholar, was the first to seriously attempt to decipher the symbols on the Rosetta Stone. He suspected rightly that the hieroglyphs were phonetic symbols, that they represented its sounds rather than pictures. Until then, all scholars assumed that hieroglyphs were pictographs, that they symbolize objects or concepts. Thomas Young focused his attention on one set of hieroglyphs that he thought would probably spell out a single word: the name of a King or Queen. He guessed that the symbols represented the name of the early Egyptian ruler Ptolemy, since Ptolemy was also written in Greek on the stone and was indeed a Greek name. And Young did actually prove that these hieroglyphs represented sounds rather than whole words. Strangely though, he gave into the dominant thesis of the day that hieroglyphs were pictographs. He actually dismissed his own findings as an anomaly because the Ptolemaic dynasty was Greek, not Egyptian. in other words, he figured it was an exception to the rule. It was phonetic because it was Greek, not Egyptian. 
How else could an Egyptian depict a Greek name other than spell it out? And that brings us to the hero of our story: Jean-Francois Champollion. Champollion built on Young's work, showing that different hieroglyphs spelled the names of Kings and Queens like Alexander or Cleopatra. But his critics noted that this was still not traditional Egyptian names. He hadn't done any more than Young had been able to do, so he couldn't disprove the dominant theory. 
Then in 1822, Champollion was shown a set of hieroglyphs that contain traditional Egyptian names. The first two of these symbols were unknown, but Champollion knew that the repeated hieroglyphs to the far right symbolized an "S" sound. He then drew on his linguistic knowledge to arrive at the solution to the problem. You see, unlike any of the other scholars who had tried to crack the code, Champollion happened to be fluent in Coptic. He wondered, and this was the real breakthrough, if Coptic was the language symbolized by the hieroglyphs on the Rosetta stone. And if so, then perhaps that first disc-shape symbol might represent the Sun. And the Coptic word for Sun is "ra". See where this is headed? So if the symbol were Coptic, the first symbol would be "ra". And then an unknown symbol followed by a double "S" sound. Was this, Champollion wondered, the name Rameses1? He was eventually able to confirm that it was. So, he had figured it out Hieroglyphs were mainly phonetic, they represented sounds, not pictures, and the underlying language was Coptic. A lot of work remained, but Champollion had cracked the code.

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