When I was a child growing up in Maine, one of my favorite things to do was to look for sand dollars on the seashores of Maine, because my parents told me it would bring me luck. But you know, these shells, they're hard to find. They're covered in sand, they're difficult to see. However, over time, I got used to looking for them. I started seeing shapes and patterns that helped me to collect them.
我從小喺緬因州長大 細個嗰時我最愛做嘅一件事 就係到海邊執海錢 因為父母話執到海錢會帶嚟好運 但要知道海錢好難搵 佢哋畀沙遮住,好難被發現 只不過,一段時間之後 我已經識點樣搵到佢哋 我開始憑形狀同紋理嚟搵佢哋
This grew into a passion for finding things, a love for the past and archaeology. And eventually, when I started studying Egyptology, I realized that seeing with my naked eyes alone wasn't enough. Because all of the sudden, in Egypt, my beach had grown from a tiny beach in Maine to one eight hundred miles long, next to the Nile. And my sand dollars had grown to the size of cities. This is really what brought me to using satellite imagery. For trying to map the past, I knew that I had to see differently.
我因此開始熱愛尋寶 亦迷上咗研究事物嘅過去同學習考古學 終於,喺我開始埃及古物學的研究之後 我發覺齋用肉眼搵嘢係唔夠 因為喺我去到埃及之後 我研究嘅沙灘忽然間 由緬因州一個好細嘅沙灘 變成一條八百英哩長嘅尼羅河沙灘 而我要搵嘅嘢亦都由海錢變咗古城 亦因為咁,我開始利用衛星圖片 我知道如果要將事物的過去完整地呈現出嚟
So I want to show you an example of how we see differently
就要用第二種方法去觀測
using the infrared. This is a site located in the eastern Egyptian delta called Mendes. And the site visibly appears brown, but when we use the infrared and we process it, all of the sudden, using false color, the site appears as bright pink. What you are seeing are the actual chemical changes to the landscape caused by the building materials and activities of the ancient Egyptians.
所以喺呢度,我會畀大家睇睇 我哋用紅外線進行觀測 呢個係尼羅河三角洲東部嘅 Mendes 呢個地方就咁睇起嚟係啡色 但如果我哋用紅外線去睇呢個地點 再加上假色 , 突然變成鮮粉紅 宜家你哋睇到嘅 係古代埃及人嘅建築材料 同活動對地表造成嘅化學影響
What I want to share with you today is how we've used satellite data to find an ancient Egyptian city, called Itjtawy, missing for thousands of years. Itjtawy was ancient Egypt's capital for over four hundred years, at a period of time called the Middle Kingdom, about four thousand years ago. The site is located in the Faiyum of Egypt, and the site is really important, because in the Middle Kingdom there was this great renaissance for ancient Egyptian art, architecture and religion. Egyptologists have always known the site of Itjtawy was located somewhere near the pyramids of the two kings who built it, indicated within the red circles here, but somewhere within this massive flood plain. This area is huge -- it's four miles by three miles in size. The Nile used to flow right next to the city of Itjtawy, and as it shifted and changed and moved over time to the east, it covered over the city.
今天我想同各位分享嘅係 我哋點樣利用衛星資料 搵到一座消失咗幾千年嘅 埃及古城伊塔威 伊塔威屬於四千幾年前 古埃及中王國時期 做過超過四百年首都 伊塔威位於埃及嘅法尤姆市 伊塔威非常重要 因為喺中王國時期,古埃及曾經有過 藝術、建築同宗教方面嘅重大嘅文藝復興 埃及學家早就知道伊塔威嘅大概位置 約莫位於兩個法老所起嘅呢個城嘅 金字塔附近 就係圖中紅色圈裡邊 即係喺呢個廣闊沖積平原嘅某處 呢個區域非常寬廣 長同闊有成四英哩乘三英哩 尼羅河曾經流經伊塔威西面 但後嚟流經東面 於是覆蓋咗成個城市
So, how do you find a buried city in a vast landscape? Finding it randomly would be the equivalent of locating a needle in a haystack, blindfolded, wearing baseball mitts.
我哋係點樣喺咁大嘅平原裏面 搵一座埋喺地底嘅城市? 漫無目的咁搵有如大海撈針
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So what we did is we used NASA topography data to map out the landscape, very subtle changes. We started to be able to see where the Nile used to flow. But you can see in more detail, and even more interesting, this very slight raised area seen within the circle up here which we thought could possibly be the location of the city of Itjtawy.
因此我哋用太空總署嘅地形資料 繪製出地形同細微嘅變化 我哋開始見到尼羅河曾經流過嘅地方 我哋覺得紅色圈圈裏面 呢個微微拱起嘅地方 好有可能係伊塔威嘅位置
So we collaborated with Egyptian scientists to do coring work, which you see here. When I say coring, it's like ice coring, but instead of layers of climate change, you're looking for layers of human occupation. And, five meters down, underneath a thick layer of mud, we found a dense layer of pottery. What this shows is that at this possible location of Itjtawy, five meters down, we have a layer of occupation for several hundred years, dating to the Middle Kingdom, dating to the exact period of time we think Itjtawy is. We also found work stone -- carnelian, quartz and agate that shows that there was a jeweler's workshop here. These might not look like much, but when you think about the most common stones used in jewelry from the Middle Kingdom, these are the stones that were used.
於是我哋同埃及科學家合作 進行岩層採樣,就好似呢張咁 岩層採樣就好似冰層採樣咁 唔同嘅係,冰層採樣 在於搵出氣候變化 而岩層採樣只係 搵唔同時代人類嘅活動 喺厚厚嘅泥層之下、地面五米之下 我哋搵到咗一層布滿陶器嘅岩層 即係話,喺伊塔威嘅潛在位置 嘅五米深地方 我哋搵到一層有著 幾百年人類活動痕跡嘅岩層 時間仲可以追溯到中王國時期 即係伊塔威嘅存在時間 同時我哋都搵到工藝石材 光玉隨、石英同瑪瑙 顯示呢度曾經有一間珠寶工坊 雖然呢啲石頭睇上去唔係好似 但當你諗返中王國時期 製造珠寶時最常用嘅石材 呢啲石頭就係嗰啲石材 宜家我哋發現咗一層有著 好多人類活動痕跡嘅岩層
So, we have a dense layer of occupation dating to the Middle Kingdom at this site. We also have evidence of an elite jeweler's workshop, showing that whatever was there was a very important city. No Itjtawy was here yet, but we're going to be returning to the site in the near future to map it out. And even more importantly, we have funding to train young Egyptians in the use of satellite technology so they can be the ones making great discoveries as well.
呢層岩層仲可以 追溯到中王國時期 我哋都有證據顯示呢度曾經有 一間大師級嘅珠寶工坊 證明咗呢度曾經有座非常重要嘅城市 雖然伊塔威嘅遺址未顯露出嚟 但我哋會返去嗰度重塑佢嘅原貌 更重要嘅係 我哋獲得經費,訓練埃及嘅年輕人 利用衛星科技去探索古蹟
So I wanted to end with my favorite quote from the Middle Kingdom -- it was probably written at the city of Itjtawy four thousand years ago. "Sharing knowledge is the greatest of all callings. There's nothing like it in the land." So as it turns out, TED was not founded in 1984 AD.
最後,我想用我最愛嘅 古埃及中王國時代名言收結 呢句說話寫喺大約四千多年前嘅伊塔威 「世上最偉大嘅使命 莫過於同他人分享知識」 TED 只不過喺公元 1984 年之後成立
(Laughter)
( 笑聲)
Making ideas actually started in 1984 BC at a not-lost-for-long city, found from above. It certainly puts finding seashells by the seashore in perspective.
但公元前 1984 年 喺一座消失咗唔係好耐嘅城市裏面 發展想法呢樣嘢已經一早開始萌芽 佢亦證明咗喺海邊執貝殼係有用嘅
Thank you very much.
多謝各位
(Applause)
( 掌聲)
Thank you.
多謝
(Applause)
( 掌聲)