have one supreme quality --

我們人類所製造出來的東西

they live longer than us.

有個最出眾的特性

We perish, they survive;

就是它們的壽命很長 甚至超越人類

we have one life, they have many lives,

人類滅亡了 而它們依然存在

and in each life they can mean different things.

我們只有一條命 它們卻能留存好幾個世紀

Which means that, while we all have one biography,

在不同的時間點 它們所代表的意義也不相同

they have many.

就像一份傳記就能代表一個人的一生

I want this morning to talk

人造產物卻不然

about the story, the biography -- or rather the biographies --

今天我想講的是

of one particular object,

一個故事 一份傳記 應該說是好幾份傳記

one remarkable thing.

這些傳記都跟一項

It doesn't, I agree,

非常驚人的文物有關

look very much.

我承認

It's about the size of a rugby ball.

它看起沒什麼特別的

It's made of clay,

大概就跟一顆橄欖球差不多大

and it's been fashioned

它是用陶土做成的

into a cylinder shape,

定型為

covered with close writing

圓柱體

and then baked dry in the sun.

有人先在上面刻滿了密密麻麻的文字

And as you can see,

之後就放在太陽底下曬乾

it's been knocked about a bit,

應該不難發現

which is not surprising

它有一部分缺損

because it was made two and a half thousand years ago

但這其實很正常

and was dug up

畢竟它已經有2500年的歷史了

in 1879.

然後在1879年

But today,

才被挖出來

this thing is, I believe,

我相信

a major player

這個東西

in the politics of the Middle East.

在中東政局上

And it's an object

扮演了很重要的角色

with fascinating stories

這個文物

and stories that are by no means over yet.

蘊藏了許多膾炙人口的故事

The story begins

而這些故事還沒有結束

in the Iran-Iraq war

故事是從

and that series of events

兩伊戰爭那時候開始的

that culminated

而這一系列故事的

in the invasion of Iraq

最高潮

by foreign forces,

是在伊拉克

the removal of a despotic ruler

被外國勢力入侵時

and instant regime change.

獨裁政權垮臺

And I want to begin

政權隨之改變

with one episode from that sequence of events

我會從一連串的事件中

that most of you would be very familiar with,

挑一段講起

Belshazzar's feast --

伯沙撒的盛宴

because we're talking about the Iran-Iraq war

我想大部分的人應該都很熟悉這個故事

of 539 BC.

因為我們要談的

And the parallels

是西元前539年時的兩伊戰爭

between the events

西元前539年

of 539 BC and 2003 and in between

與西元2003年的兩伊戰爭

are startling.

兩個戰爭的相似程度

What you're looking at is Rembrandt's painting,

真的很令人吃驚

now in the National Gallery in London,

你們現在看到的是

illustrating the text from the prophet Daniel

現存於倫敦國家美術館的倫勃朗（林布藍）的作品

in the Hebrew scriptures.

這幅畫描述了希伯來經文中

And you all know roughly the story.

先知但以理所說的場景

Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar,

這個故事 你們或多或少都知道一點

Nebuchadnezzar who'd conquered Israel, sacked Jerusalem

伯沙撒是尼布甲尼撒的兒子

and captured the people

尼布甲尼撒征服了以色列 劫掠耶路撒冷

and taken the Jews back to Babylon.

俘虜當地人民

Not only the Jews, he'd taken the temple vessels.

將猶太人

He'd ransacked, desecrated the temple.

及神殿中的神器帶回巴比倫

And the great gold vessels of the temple in Jerusalem

他褻瀆神殿 搜刮神殿中的寶物

had been taken to Babylon.

耶路撒冷神殿中的大型金屬容器

Belshazzar, his son,

也被帶回巴比倫

decides to have a feast.

尼布甲尼撒的兒子伯沙撒

And in order to make it even more exciting,

決定舉辦一場宴會

he added a bit of sacrilege to the rest of the fun,

為了要炒熱氣氛

and he brings out the temple vessels.

他把褻瀆神的行為加入餘興節目之中

He's already at war with the Iranians,

他拿出神器

with the king of Persia.

當時 他們正和伊朗人打仗

And that night, Daniel tells us,

與波斯王打仗

at the height of the festivities

那天晚上 但以理說

a hand appeared and wrote on the wall,

在宴會的最高潮

"You are weighed in the balance and found wanting,

出現了一隻手 那隻手在牆上寫道

and your kingdom is handed over

"你被秤在天平裏 顯出你的虧欠

to the Medes and the Persians."

你的國要歸與

And that very night

瑪代人和波斯人"

Cyrus, king of the Persians, entered Babylon

就在那天晚上

and the whole regime of Belshazzar fell.

居魯士 波斯之王 進軍巴比倫

It is, of course, a great moment

伯沙撒的王國 毀於一旦

in the history

想當然耳

of the Jewish people.

這對希伯來歷史而言

It's a great story. It's story we all know.

這是個多麼重要的一刻

"The writing on the wall"

這真是個很棒的故事 而我們都知道這個故事

is part of our everyday language.

牆上的字

What happened next

就是我們現代用語中的一部分

was remarkable,

接下來所發生的事

and it's where our cylinder

十分精彩

enters the story.

而我們剛講的圓柱

Cyrus, king of the Persians,

就要登場了

has entered Babylon without a fight --

波斯王居魯士

the great empire of Babylon,

不費一兵一卒就得到巴比倫

which ran from central southern Iraq

偉大的王國 巴比倫

to the Mediterranean,

一路從南伊拉克中部

falls to Cyrus.

竄逃到地中海

And Cyrus makes a declaration.

最後還是臣服於居魯士

And that is what this cylinder is,

後來居魯士公布了一項宣言

the declaration made by the ruler guided by God

那個宣言就刻在這個圓柱體上

who had toppled the Iraqi despot

這項宣言是由接受上帝指引的統治者頒布的

and was going to bring freedom to the people.

他不僅推翻了伊拉克的暴君

In ringing Babylonian --

更帶給人民自由

it was written in Babylonian --

圓柱上的

he says, "I am Cyrus, king of all the universe,

巴比倫語寫道

the great king, the powerful king,

我乃居魯士 宇宙之王

king of Babylon, king of the four quarters of the world."

偉大之王 強盛之王

They're not shy of hyperbole as you can see.

我乃巴比倫之王 世界之王

This is probably

看來他們誇飾法用得一點也不害臊

the first real press release

這應該是

by a victorious army

我們所獲的

that we've got.

第一份真正由勝利方

And it's written, as we'll see in due course,

發布的新聞稿

by very skilled P.R. consultants.

稍後 我們就能知道

So the hyperbole is not actually surprising.

這是由經驗豐富的公關顧問寫出來的

And what is the great king, the powerful king,

所以 誇飾法用成這樣也就沒什麼大不了了

the king of the four quarters of the world going to do?

那麼接下來 那偉大之王 強盛之王

He goes on to say that, having conquered Babylon,

世界之王要做什麼呢

he will at once let all the peoples

他接著又說 巴比倫既已征服

that the Babylonians -- Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar --

他馬上要讓那些

have captured and enslaved

被尼布甲尼撒與伯沙撒所俘虜

go free.

所奴役的異族人

He'll let them return to their countries.

重獲自由

And more important,

他要讓他們重回故國

he will let them all recover

但更這要的是

the gods, the statues,

他還歸還了那些

the temple vessels

曾被沒收的

that had been confiscated.

神像 塑像

All the peoples that the Babylonians had repressed and removed

以及神器

will go home,

所有被巴比倫人鎮壓 被俘虜的人

and they'll take with them their gods.

都能回家

And they'll be able to restore their altars

都能與他們的神一同離去

and to worship their gods

他們也能重修祭壇

in their own way, in their own place.

以他們的方式

This is the decree,

在屬於他們的地方 崇敬他們的神

this object is the evidence

就是這個法令

for the fact that the Jews,

這就是最好的證物

after the exile in Babylon,

它證明了猶太人

the years they'd spent sitting by the waters of Babylon,

流亡巴比倫後

weeping when they remembered Jerusalem,

坐在巴比倫水邊 詠懷耶路撒冷

those Jews were allowed to go home.

不停啜泣的那段歲月

They were allowed to return to Jerusalem

而最後 他們終於重獲自由

and to rebuild the temple.

他們得以返回耶路撒冷

It's a central document

重建神殿

in Jewish history.

這是猶太歷史中的

And the Book of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra in the Hebrew scriptures

核心文獻

reported in ringing terms.

在希伯來經文中的 歷代志及以斯拉記之中

This is the Jewish version

都叨叨切切地記下這一切

of the same story.

這是同一個故事

"Thus said Cyrus, king of Persia,

只是是猶太版本的

'All the kingdoms of the earth have the Lord God of heaven given thee,

"波斯王古列（居魯士）如此說

and he has charged me

'耶和華天上的神 已將天下萬國賜給我

to build him a house in Jerusalem.

又囑咐我

Who is there among you of his people?

在猶大的耶路撒冷為他建造殿宇

The Lord God be with him,

你們中間凡作他子民的

and let him go up.'"

可以上去

"Go up" -- aaleh.

願耶和華他的神與他同在'"

The central element, still,

上去 重回故國

of the notion of return,

重返耶路撒冷這個想法的

a central part

核心元素

of the life of Judaism.

依然是猶太教文化的

As you all know, that return from exile,

核心思想

the second temple,

相信大家都知道

reshaped Judaism.

耶路撒冷的回歸與第二神殿

And that change,

重新塑造了猶太教

that great historic moment,

波斯王居魯士實現了

was made possible by Cyrus, the king of Persia,

這個轉機

reported for us in Hebrew in scripture

這歷史上的重要一刻

and in Babylonian in clay.

希伯來文的經文 巴比倫語的陶器

Two great texts,

都詳細記載了這一切

what about the politics?

兩份都是很重要的文獻

What was going on

那政治方面又是如何呢

was the fundamental shift in Middle Eastern history.

接下來發生的事

The empire of Iran, the Medes and the Persians,

對中東歷史產生了重大的轉變

united under Cyrus,

居魯士統一了

became the first great world empire.

瑪代人與波斯人的伊朗

Cyrus begins in the 530s BC.

建立了第一個世界性大帝國

And by the time of his son Darius,

居魯士的霸業從西元前530年開始

the whole of the eastern Mediterranean

及至其子大流士時

is under Persian control.

整個東地中海地區

This empire is, in fact,

也已經納入了波斯帝國版圖

the Middle East as we now know it,

事實上 這個帝國統治了

and it's what shapes the Middle East as we now know it.

我們現在所知的中東地區

It was the largest empire the world had known until then.

因為有這個帝國 才有現今的中東地區

Much more important,

它是當時世界上最大的帝國

it was the first

更重要的是

multicultural, multifaith state

它是第一個

on a huge scale.

大規模融合了多元文化

And it had to be run in a quite new way.

與多元信仰的國家

It had to be run in different languages.

它必須以新的方式治理

The fact that this decree is in Babylonian says one thing.

必須以各種語言傳達政令

And it had to recognize their different habits,

巴比倫語版本的政令 就證明了真有此事

different peoples, different religions, different faiths.

它必須承認 在同個國家裡

All of those are respected by Cyrus.

會有不同的習俗 不同的種族 不同宗教 不同信仰

Cyrus sets up a model

居魯士尊重這些差異

of how you run

居魯士設立了典範

a great multinational, multifaith, multicultural society.

教我們如何治理

And the result of that

一個蘊含多元種族 多元信仰 多元文化的社會

was an empire that included the areas you see on the screen,

結果就是

and which survived for 200 years of stability

他建立了一個橫跨許多地區的大帝國 就像你們在螢幕上看到的一樣

until it was shattered by Alexander.

這個帝國維持了200年之久的穩定強盛

It left a dream of the Middle East as a unit,

直到被亞歷山大征服

and a unit where people of different faiths

這個帝國為中東的統一留下了一個夢

could live together.

一個不同信仰的人

The Greek invasions ended that.

也能共同生活的夢

And of course, Alexander couldn't sustain a government

但希臘人的入侵粉碎了這一切

and it fragmented.

當然 亞歷山大無力維持政權

But what Cyrus represented

這個帝國隨後便分崩離析

remained absolutely central.

但居魯士所代表的

The Greek historian Xenophon

仍是絕對的核心意義

wrote his book "Cyropaedia"

在希臘史學家色諾芬所寫的

promoting Cyrus as the great ruler.

居魯士的教育一書中

And throughout European culture afterward,

他推崇居魯士是個偉大的統治者

Cyrus remained the model.

在後來的整個歐洲文化中

This is a 16th century image

居魯士仍然是個不朽的典範

to show you how widespread

這是16世紀時的形象

his veneration actually was.

用以證明人們

And Xenophon's book on Cyrus

推崇他的程度究竟有多廣

on how you ran a diverse society

色諾芬在書中描述了

was one of the great textbooks

居魯士如何治理一個多元的社會

that inspired the Founding Fathers

而這本偉大的書

of the American Revolution.

啟發了美國革命的

Jefferson was a great admirer --

諸位國父

the ideals of Cyrus

傑佛遜就是其中一位仰慕者

obviously speaking to those 18th century ideals

居魯士證明了

of how you create religious tolerance

要如何在

in a new state.

18世紀的新國度之中

Meanwhile, back in Babylon,

創造宗教寬容的氛圍

things had not been going well.

現在 讓我們回到巴比倫

After Alexander, the other empires,

但情況似乎不太樂觀

Babylon declines, falls into ruins,

在亞歷山大之後 有幾位君王

and all the traces of the great Babylonian empire are lost --

讓巴比倫日漸衰頹 只剩斷垣殘壁

until 1879

所有能證明巴比倫曾經強盛的蛛絲馬跡 都已經消失無蹤

when the cylinder is discovered

直到1879年

by a British Museum exhibition digging in Babylon.

大英博物館為了展覽

And it enters now another story.

在巴比倫挖出這個圓柱

It enters that great debate

現在 又是另一個故事了

in the middle of the 19th century:

19世紀中葉時

Are the scriptures reliable? Can we trust them?

曾有一場大規模的辯論

We only knew

經文真的可信嗎 我們真能相信經文嗎

about the return of the Jews and the decree of Cyrus

從希伯來經文中

from the Hebrew scriptures.

我們只能瞭解到

No other evidence.

猶太人的回歸與居魯士的法令

Suddenly, this appeared.

沒有其他佐證

And great excitement

突然 它出現了

to a world where those who believed in the scriptures

對當時

had had their faith in creation shaken

相信經文與創世紀

by evolution, by geology,

卻被演化論與地質學所動搖的人來說

here was evidence

它帶來了多麼大的震撼

that the scriptures were historically true.

它證實了

It's a great 19th century moment.

經文在歷史上 是真實存在的

But -- and this, of course, is where it becomes complicated --

這是19世紀的偉大時刻

the facts were true,

但當然 從此以後 事情越來越複雜

hurrah for archeology,

事實都是真的

but the interpretation was rather more complicated.

在考古學上無疑是好消息

Because the cylinder account and the Hebrew Bible account

但要如何詮釋 卻是更加困難的課題

differ in one key respect.

因為圓柱所陳述的 與希伯來經文中陳述的

The Babylonian cylinder

有個關鍵的差異

is written by the priests

圓柱體上的巴比倫語

of the great god of Bablyon, Marduk.

是由信奉巴比倫之神

And, not surprisingly,

馬爾杜克的祭司所寫的

they tell you that all this was done by Marduk.

所以可想而知

"Marduk, we hold, called Cyrus by his name."

他們會說 這一切都是馬爾杜克的神蹟

Marduk takes Cyrus by the hand,

馬爾杜克 我們所信奉的神 以祂之名 召喚了居魯士

calls him to shepherd his people

馬爾杜克拉著居魯士的手

and gives him the rule of Babylon.

命他帶領他的子民

Marduk tells Cyrus