7. The pyramids were not built by slaves.
埃及金字塔并非奴隶修建
The life of a pyramid builder certainly wasn't easy—skeletons of workers commonly show signs of arthritis and other ailments—but evidence suggests that the massive tombs were built not by slaves but by paid laborers.
大部分修建金字塔的工人尸骨上都有着关节炎等多种疾病的痕迹,这表明他们的生活并不容易。但也由证据表明,这些巨型陵墓并非奴隶所建,而是一些高价聘请的劳工建的。
These ancient construction workers were a mix of skilled artisans and temporary hands, and some appear to have taken great pride in their craft.
这么劳工要么是技艺娴熟的工匠,要么是一些临时工,似乎还有一些人对自己的手艺相当自豪。
Graffiti found near the monuments suggests they often assigned humorous names to their crews like the “Drunkards of Menkaure” or the “Friends of Khufu.”
有纪念碑旁的涂鸦提醒我们,他们经常给工友起一些搞笑的绰号,例如“孟卡拉的酒鬼”,还有“胡夫的好友”。
The idea that slaves built the pyramids at the crack of a whip was first conjured by the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century B.C., but most historians now dismiss it as myth.
公元前5世纪,希腊历史学家希罗多德首次提出了奴隶在鞭声中建造了金字塔的观点,然而现在有很多历史学家否认了这一猜测。
While the ancient Egyptians were certainly not averse to keeping slaves, they appear to have mostly used them as field hands and domestic servants.
尽管古埃及人并不反对买卖奴隶,但奴隶通常都在用来在田间劳作或是堂内打杂的。