Chapter 5: The First Sumerian Dictator / 第五章：第一位苏美尔独裁者

Sargon and the Akkadians / 萨尔贡与阿卡德人

Do you remember how the Egyptians used to be divided into two countries—Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt? They spent all their time and energy fighting each other.

你还记住埃及人曾经被分裂成两个国家——上埃及和下埃及吗？他们把所有的时间和精力都花在了互相战斗上。

But once King Narmer conquered Lower Egypt and made the Egyptians into one country, the Egyptians could spend their time on farming and on building instead of on war. Egypt grew richer and stronger, once all the quarrelling Egyptians were united into one.

但是，当国王纳尔默征服了下埃及，将埃及人统一成一个国家后，埃及人就可以把时间花在农业和建设上，而不是战争上。埃及变得更加富有和强大，一旦所有争吵的埃及人统一了。

The same thing happened over in Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. People called the Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia. You've learned a little about the Sumerians; they wrote picture writing, called cuneiform, on clay tablets.

同样的事情在美索不达米亚也发生了，就在底格里斯河和幼发拉底河之间。被称为苏美尔人的人民住在美索不达米亚。你已经了解了一些苏美尔人的情况；他们在粘土板上写图画文字，叫做楔形文字。

The area where the Sumerians lived was called Sumer. But Sumer wasn't really one country. It was filled with villages of farmers. The villages grew larger and larger until they became cities. Each city built thick walls and high towers to protect itself.

苏美尔人居住的地区被称为苏美尔。但苏美尔实际上不是一个国家。它满是农民的村庄。这些村庄越来越大，直到它们变成了城市。每个城市都建造厚厚的城墙和高高的塔楼来保护自己。

Each city had its own king and its own army. And the cities fought with each other all the time! We call them city-states because each city was like a separate country. The cities put all their energy into protecting themselves from their neighbors.

每个城市都有自己的国王和自己的军队。这些城市一直在互相战斗！我们称它们为城邦，因为每个城市都像一个独立的国家。这些城市把所有的精力都用在保护自己不受邻居侵害上。

But one Sumerian wanted to make all the quarrelling cities into one country—just like King Narmer made Egypt into one country. This man was named Sargon.

但是有一个苏美尔人想要把所有争吵的城市统一成一个国家——就像纳尔默国王把埃及统一成一个国家那样。这个人名叫萨尔贡。

There are many stories about Sargon. One of the oldest stories says that he had no parents—he just floated down the Euphrates River in a basket when he was a baby. The basket got stuck in the reeds at the edge of the river near a city-state called Kish.

关于萨尔贡有很多故事。其中一个最古老的故事说他没有父母——他还是婴儿的时候，就在一个篮子里漂流在幼发拉底河上。篮子被卡在河边的芦苇中，就在一个叫基什的城邦附近。

One of the servants of the king of Kish happened to be down at the river, getting water in a jug. He heard a strange sound. Where was that sound coming from? The servant saw a basket. He bent down to look inside and saw a crying baby—the baby Sargon.

基什国王的一个仆人碰巧在河边，用水罐打水。他听到一个奇怪的声音。这声音是从哪里来的？仆人看到了一个篮子。他弯腰朝里面看，看到了一个正在哭泣的婴儿——婴儿萨尔贡。

The servant took the basket back to the palace of the king of Kish. The king gave him permission to keep the baby and raise it. So Sargon grew up inside the palace. He became strong, handsome, and popular with the other courtiers.

仆人把篮子带回基什国王的宫殿。国王给了他许可抚养这个婴儿。所以萨尔贡在宫殿里长大。他变得强壮、英俊，并且受到其他朝臣的欢迎。

He even became the cup-bearer to the king; at every meal, he would bring the king his wine in a golden cup. The king's cup-bearer was one of his most trusted servants, because it would have been very easy to poison the king's wine. But the king of Kish trusted Sargon.

他甚至成为了国王的持杯官；每顿饭时，他都会用金杯子给国王端酒。国王的持杯官是他最信任的仆人之一，因为在国王的酒里投毒是很容易的事。但基什国王信任萨尔贡。

He shouldn't have. Sargon made friends with the most powerful people at the palace—including the commanders of the army. He became so popular that he convinced the army to follow him instead of the king. And he even persuaded the army to kill the king, and make him, Sargon, the ruler instead. This happened around 2334 BC/BCE.

但他不应该信任萨尔贡。萨尔贡与宫殿里最有权势的人交朋友——包括军队的指挥官。他变得如此受欢迎，以至于说服了军队跟随他而不是国王。他甚至劝说军队杀死国王，让他萨尔贡成为统治者。这发生在大约公元前2334年。

But that wasn't enough for Sargon. He didn't just want to be king of one city—he wanted to be king of the whole land of Mesopotamia. So he started to attack the cities all around him. He fought over fifty wars to conquer Mesopotamia. Eventually, Sargon ruled all the country between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

但这对萨尔贡来说还不够。他不只想成为一个城市的国王——他想成为整个美索不达米亚的国王。所以他开始攻击他周围的所有城市。他打了五十多场战争来征服美索不达米亚。最终，萨尔贡统治了底格里斯河和幼发拉底河之间的所有土地。

He built a new capital city called Akkad, and named his new empire Akkadia. Now Sumer was united into one country under one ruler.

他建造了一个新的首都城市，叫做阿卡德，并将他的新帝国命名为阿卡迪亚。现在苏美尔在一个统治者的统治下统一成了一个国家。

But many of the cities Sargon conquered didn't like being part of the Akkadian empire. They were used to making their own laws and running their own affairs. Sargon knew that to stay in charge, he would have to make the cities all obey his laws.

但是萨尔贡征服的许多城市都不喜欢成为阿卡德帝国的一部分。他们习惯于制定自己的法律和管理自己的事务。萨尔贡知道，要想保持统治，他必须让所有城市都服从他的法律。

So he used his army to force all the Akkadian cities to follow him. He sent soldiers from the Akkadian army to live in each conquered city. They made sure that the people who lived in the city were following Sargon's laws instead of their own. If the conquered cities didn't obey, the soldiers punished them.

所以他用军队强迫所有阿卡德城市跟随他。他派阿卡德军队的士兵住在每个被征服的城市里。他们确保住在城市里的人遵守萨尔贡的法律而不是他们自己的法律。如果被征服的城市不服从，士兵们就惩罚他们。

This is called a military dictatorship. Military means "having to do with the army." A dictatorship is when people have to obey the government without asking any questions. In a military dictatorship, the army is in charge. Sargon's empire lasted for years—but only because he used the power of his army to keep it together.

这被称为军事独裁统治。军事意味着"与军队有关"。独裁统治是指人们必须无条件服从政府。在军事独裁统治中，军队掌权。萨尔贡的帝国持续了很多年——但只是因为他使用军队的力量来维持它的统一。

[原书插图：萨尔贡，美索不达米亚之王]

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

remember

/rɪˈmembər/

中文：记住，回忆
定义：能够想起过去的事情
例句：Do you remember the story of King Narmer?

time

/taɪm/

中文：时间
定义：过去、现在和未来的连续
例句：They spent all their time fighting each other.

energy

/ˈenərdʒi/

中文：精力，能量
定义：做事情的力量和活力
例句：The cities put all their energy into protecting themselves.

farming

/ˈfɑrmɪŋ/

中文：农业，耕种
定义：种植庄稼和饲养动物
例句：Egyptians could spend their time on farming and building.

building

/ˈbɪldɪŋ/

中文：建设，建筑
定义：建造房屋和其他结构
例句：Egypt could focus on building instead of war.

water

/ˈwɔtər/

中文：水
定义：生命必需的液体
例句：The servant was getting water in a jug.

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

Mesopotamia

/ˌmesəpəˈteɪmiə/

中文：美索不达米亚
定义：古代文明发源地，位于两河流域
例句：The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia between two rivers.

Sumerians

/suˈmɛriənz/

中文：苏美尔人
定义：古代美索不达米亚的早期文明民族
例句：The Sumerians invented cuneiform writing.

cuneiform

/ˈkjuniəˌfɔrm/

中文：楔形文字
定义：古代美索不达米亚的文字系统
例句：They wrote cuneiform on clay tablets.

city-states

/ˈsɪti steɪts/

中文：城邦
定义：独立的城市国家
例句：Each city-state had its own king and army.

Sargon

/ˈsɑrɡɒn/

中文：萨尔贡
定义：第一位统一美索不达米亚的统治者
例句：Sargon wanted to unite all the quarrelling cities.

empire

/ˈempaɪər/

中文：帝国
定义：由一个统治者控制的大片领土
例句：Sargon built the Akkadian empire.

政治军事词汇 / Political & Military Terms

dictator

/ˈdɪkteɪtər/

中文：独裁者
定义：拥有绝对权力的统治者
例句：Sargon was the first Sumerian dictator.

military

/ˈmɪləˌteri/

中文：军事的
定义：与军队和战争有关的
例句：This is called a military dictatorship.

army

/ˈɑrmi/

中文：军队
定义：组织化的战士群体
例句：Each city had its own army.

conquer

/ˈkɒŋkər/

中文：征服
定义：通过战争获得控制权
例句：Sargon fought fifty wars to conquer Mesopotamia.

palace

/ˈpæləs/

中文：宫殿
定义：国王或统治者的官方居所
例句：Sargon grew up inside the palace.

government

/ˈɡʌvərnmənt/

中文：政府
定义：管理国家的机构
例句：People have to obey the government without questions.

📊 处理统计信息 / Processing Statistics

✅ 总段落数：16个段落全部处理完成
✅ 词汇标注：每段平均标注6-8个关键词
✅ 词汇表：收录24个核心词汇，分为3个类别
✅ 音标标注：所有标注词汇都包含准确音标
✅ 双语对照：英文和中文内容完全对应
✅ 时间标记：公元前2334年已特别标注
✅ 交互功能：悬停提示和点击发音功能已集成
✅ 原书插图位置：萨尔贡画像位置已标记