摘要：百年等待，尘埃落定！收藏了图坦卡蒙全部5500件珍宝的大埃及博物馆已正式开放。这不仅是“埃及送给世界的礼物”，更是一场关乎文化尊严的宣言。埃及人借此宣告：我们完全有能力守护自己的文明。与此同时，要求西方归还如纳芙蒂蒂半身像、罗塞塔石碑等“国宝”的呼声也再次达到

有趣灵魂说

译文为原创，仅供个人学习使用

The New York Times｜Arts

纽约时报 | 艺术

Making King Tut Feel at Home

让图坦卡蒙有宾至如归之感

After years of delays, the enormous Grand Egyptian Museum is finally open in Cairo. Its leaders hope its displays will shift Egyptology’s center of gravity away from the West and back to Egypt.

经过多年延后，庞大的吉萨大埃及博物馆终于在开罗开放。其负责人希望，它的展品能将埃及学的重心从西方转移回埃及。

By Erika Solomon and Rania Khaled

当英国考古学家霍华德·卡特首次窥探寻觅已久的图坦卡蒙法老陵墓，并被问及看到了什么时，据说他回答道："奇妙之物。"

自1922年那次发掘以来，所有这些"奇妙之物"——超过5500件——首次在一个全新策划的展览中一同展出，策展人希望这能激发人们同样的惊叹之感。

新的图坦卡蒙藏品是大埃及博物馆的核心展品。这是一个设计奢华的大型综合建筑，背后可见吉萨大金字塔从沙漠中拔地而起。经过数十年的建设，该博物馆终于在本月对外开放。

图坦卡蒙法老的丧葬面具在开罗的大埃及博物馆中占据着荣耀之位，从上方向下投以聚光照明。

埃及总统阿卜杜勒·法塔赫·塞西在11月1日博物馆盛大的开幕仪式上告诉观众，它的开放是"埃及送给世界的礼物"。它收藏了大量保存异常完好的古文明文物，几个世纪以来，这一直令考古学家、历史学家和博物馆参观者着迷。

对埃及政府而言，大埃及博物馆已成为其提升国家地位——以及旅游收入雄心的象征，后者为埃及受创的经济提供了一条生命线。

而对许多埃及人来说，这座最先进的博物馆被视为一个舞台，可以借此重申埃及最具标志性的文物应归属其祖国——而非欧洲博物馆大理石展厅的要求。

"反对归还文物的旧有论点正在瓦解，"驻开罗的著名埃及学家莫妮卡·汉娜说。她认为，新博物馆向世界发出了一个信号："埃及拥有保护自己遗产的能力、意愿和世界一流的设施。"

由于博物馆承载了如此多的希望，尽管经历了革命与反革命、疫情和经济危机，延误了二十多年，但其创建者依然雄心勃勃。

这个占地540万平方英尺的综合建筑群，面积超过90个足球场，或许更应被视作集多家博物馆于一体。想要在一天内看完所有展品几乎是不可能的。

金字塔形、发光的雪花石膏入口通向一个壮观的大楼梯，灯光照亮的雕像和巨型石柱从昏暗的台阶上显现。在主建筑内，12个展厅陈列着高耸的雕塑、华丽的珠宝和色彩鲜艳的浮雕。

其中几个展厅在长达数月的"软开放"期间允许预约参观。但最后一个、也是最受期待的展览——图坦卡蒙藏品——尚未开放。

图坦卡蒙展厅通过一条闪烁象形文字的走廊进入，其展品围绕这位少年法老的生命、死亡和期望的重生展开。

或者，参观者可以从一个展示霍华德·卡特发现图坦卡蒙陵墓在全球引发的兴奋之情的房间开始。在那里，几件物品——包括一个带雕刻兽腿的镀金木凳和一个凿成莲花状的半透明石瓶——立在屏幕前，屏幕上滚动播放着颗粒感十足的发掘影像。

大埃及博物馆内的图坦卡蒙棺椁

有几件文物在经过多年精心修复后首次展出。

其中最令人印象深刻的作品之一是图坦卡蒙的护甲，由小块皮革束紧而成，外观如鱼鳞一般。

藏品中最著名的几件作品可以在一个巨大的新展室中再次欣赏到，与它们在开罗市中心那个拥挤的、美好时代风格的埃及博物馆的原始住所相比，这里为沉思观赏提供了更多空间。新博物馆的现代化展厅拥有高天花板和光线经过精心设计的暗室，帮助游客看清少年法老彩绘箱子和串珠凉鞋的精巧细节。

当然，图坦卡蒙的丧葬面具占据着荣耀之位，从上方向下投以聚光照明。

对于那些对围绕少年法老早逝（有专家称是谋杀）的神话和辩论感兴趣的人，甚至还有一个展区探讨了新的法医技术和基因检测对其死因理论的影响。

除了图坦卡蒙展厅，另外11个大厅也摆满了文物。

埃及历史学家表示，大埃及博物馆的布局最让他们兴奋的不是高耸的雕像和奢华的珠宝，而是那些描绘古埃及人日常生活图景的文物。

从上至下：其陵墓中的一件物品；他的一部分珠宝收藏；他的木质半身像

上周二的开幕日，挤满了不仅来自世界各地、也来自埃及全国各地的游客。穿着传统长袍的年长男子在玻璃展柜前摆姿势拍照，而年轻的埃及时尚达人们则在色彩斑斓的项链旁自拍视频。

26岁的、渴望成为社交媒体影响者的迈·穆罕默德戴着古埃及风格的耳环，画着翼状眼线，她说自己已经记不清自软开放以来来过大埃及博物馆多少次了。但她仍然想在开幕日再来。"不仅仅是为了图坦卡蒙，"她说，"我想看看大家的反应——看到这一切我太高兴了。"

埃及官员表示，取悦公众只是博物馆的目标之一。

新博物馆内的人群。

凭借新的修复设施和约300名内部修复人员团队，它还旨在夺回埃及学的主导权，将其长期以来由西方大学驱动的重心带回埃及人手中。

"这个领域诞生于埃及，却一直在国外蓬勃发展，"博物馆首席执行官艾哈迈德·戈奈姆说。"我们想把它夺回来。"

这对许多埃及历史学家来说只是冰山一角，他们曾发起无数运动，要求归还古埃及一些最著名的文物。 其中最常被要求归还的包括柏林新博物馆拥有3300年历史的纳芙蒂蒂王后半身像、大英博物馆的罗塞塔石碑和卢浮宫的丹德拉黄道带。

除了声称根据殖民时期法律其移除行为是合法的论点外，活动人士表示，反对归还这些文物的另一个理由是埃及的博物馆无力保管如此珍贵的物品，曾多次发生损坏或抢劫事件。

就连图坦卡蒙法老本人也未能幸免。2014年，在他原先所在的旧埃及博物馆，工人在更换灯光时，将他黄金丧葬面具上的胡须弄断，然后笨拙地用胶水粘回，希望能蒙混过关。（该面具在几年后得到了修复。）

想在一次参观中看遍博物馆的所有藏品几乎是不可能的。

一些埃及学家表示，这些论点如今听起来很空洞。

他们说，不仅大埃及博物馆是一个合适的东道主，而且他们对任何声称能够避免损坏或抢劫问题的机构都表示质疑。2020年，柏林博物馆岛的70件埃及文物（包括石棺）被喷洒了油污，而且欧洲博物馆近年来遭遇了一系列盗窃案，包括上个月卢浮宫法国王冠珠宝被盗事件。

"请别跟我谈保护问题，"开罗著名埃及学家巴萨姆·埃尔·沙马说。"喂！我们需要把我们的东西要回来——特别是从卢浮宫。"

许多埃及人表示，法律上的论点违背了现代的伦理观和历史补偿观。

"我觉得我们必须去另一个国家才能看到我们自己的遗产，这似乎不对，"那位影响者穆罕默德说。"它们是我们的——它们是我们的身份。"

埃及官员则更为谨慎。

在接受采访时，埃及最高文物委员会秘书长穆罕默德·伊斯梅尔·哈立德 回避了伦理争论，并强调了追索文物所涉及的法律复杂性 。

尽管如此，他表示，埃及希望说服欧洲博物馆至少能将像纳芙蒂蒂半身像这样的著名文物送到大埃及博物馆进行临时展览。

"我们希望它们能来作客——哪怕只是一段时间，"他说。"这样埃及人就有权看到他们的祖先。" ◾

CAIRO - When the British archaeologist Howard Carter first peered into the long-sought tomb of Tutankhamen and was asked what he saw, he was said to have replied:” Wonderful things.”

For the first time since that excavation in 1922, all those “wonderful things”- more than 5,500 of them - are on display together in a newly envisioned exhibit that its curators hope will spark that same sense of awe.

The new Tutankhamen collection is the centerpiece of the Grand Egyptian Museum, a lavishly designed mega complex here, with the Great Pyramids of Giza rising from the desert behind it. Decades in the making, the museum finally opened its doors this month.

Its opening is a “gift from Egypt to the world”, Egypt’s president, Abdel Farrah el-Sisi, told the audience at the museum’s grand opening ceremony on Nov.1. And it holds an almost overwhelming array of remarkably preserved artifacts from an ancient civilization that has fascinated archaeologists, historians and museum visitors for centuries.

For Egypt’s government, the Grand Egyptian Museum has come to symbolize its ambitions to raise the country's stature

- and tourism revenues, providing a lifeline to Egypt's battered economy.

And for many Egyptians, the state-of-the art museum is seen as a stage from which to renew demands that Egypt's most iconic antiquities belong in their homeland - not the marble halls of European museums.

"The old arguments against return are crumbling," said Monica Hanna, a leading Egyptologist based in Cairo. The new museum, she argued, was a signal to the world:

"Egypt possesses the capacity, the will and the world-class facilities to house its own heritage."

With so many hopes riding on the museum, its creators were ambitious - despite more than 20 years of delays amid a revolution and counterrevolution, a pandemic and economic crises.

The 5.4 million-square-foot complex, sprawling over an area larger than 90 football fields, might better be thought of as several museums in one. It would be nearly impossible to see everything there in one day.

The pyramid-shaped, glowing alabaster entrance leads to a spectacular grand stair-case, where lit-up statues and giant columns emerge from darkened steps. Inside the main building, 12 halls house towering sculptures, ornate jewelry and vividly colored friezes.

Several of these halls allowed for reserved visits during a monthslong "soft opening." But the last and most anticipated exhibit yet to open was the Tutankhamen collection.

Entered via a hallway of flashing hiero-glyphics, the Tutankhamen galleries offer displays based on the boy king's life, death and hoped-for rebirth.

Or visitors can start from a room that lays out the worldwide excitement around the discovery by Howard Carter of King Tut's tomb. From there, several items - including a gilded wooden stool with carved animal feet and a translucent stone vase chiseled into lotus blossoms — stand in front of screens scrolling grainy images of the excavation.

Several pieces are on display for the first time after years of painstaking restoration.

One of the most impressive is Tutankhamen's body armor, made trom small pieces of fastened leather that give the appearance of fish scales.

The collection's most notable pieces can be enjoyed again in a giant new chamber that gives more space to ponder them than their original home in the crowded, belle epoque-era Egyptian Museum in central Cairo. The new museum's modern exhibition halls have high ceilings and darkened rooms with custom lighting that helps visitors see the intricacy of the boy king's painted boxes and beaded sandals.

Tutankhamen's funerary mask, of course, holds pride of place, spotlighted from above.

And for those interested in the myths and debates surrounding the boy king's early demise (some experts say it was murder), there is even a section exploring the effects that new forensic technology and genetic testing have had on theories about his death.

Beyond the Tutankhamen galleries, another 11 halls are brimming with artifacts.

Egyptian historians say what excites them most about the Grand Egyptian Museum's layout is not the towering statues and extravagant jewelry, but pieces that paint a story of ancient Egyptians' everyday life.

There are statues of brewers and bakers at work, and busts showing women's ancient hairstyles - from short bobs to curly wigs, styled to show off their ears. A tiny clay figurine of a man petting his dog pays tribute to the millenniums-old human-ca-nine bond.

"The most significant items are those that connect us to the nonroyal population, to daily life," said Hanna, the Egyptologist.

To bring alive a sense of Egyptian daily life, the museum includes some high-tech displays. Inside the re-creation of one tomb, for example, colorful screen projections of its original friezes depicting everyday

scenes suddenly spring into action: Hunters draw their bows to shoot at gazelles that leap off the screen; farmers wobble as they balance heavily laden baskets over their shoulders.

Egypt is banking on the museum spectacle attracting droves of tourists and their much-needed hard currency. The minister of tourism and antiquities, Sherif Fathy, said he expected it to draw up to five million visitors a year, and developers are rushing to build about 12,000 hotel rooms to host them.

But the museum is just as much an attraction to Egypt's own 108 million people.

The opening day, last Tuesday, thronged with visitors not just from around the world, but from across the country, too. Older men in traditional robes posed for photos in front of glass cases while young Egyptian fashionistas filmed videos of themselves beside brilliantly colored necklaces.

Mai Mohammed, 26, an aspiring social media influencer wearing ancient Egypt-in-spired earrings and winged eyeliner, said she had lost count of the times she had come to Grand Egyptian Museum since the soft opening. She still wanted to come for opening day.

"Not just for Tutankhamen," she said. "I wanted to see everyone's reactions — I'm so happy to see this."

Delighting the public is just one of the museum's objectives, Egyptian officials say.

With new restoration facilities and an in-house staff of about 300 restorers, it is also staking a claim to bring the center of gravity for Egyptology, long driven by Western universities, back to Egyptians.

"This field was created in Egypt but has been flourishing in the outside world," said Ahmed Ghoneim, the museum's chief executive. "We want to have it back."

That is the tip of the iceberg for many Egyptian historians, who have spearheaded myriad campaigns to demand the return of some of ancient Egypt's most famous artifacts. Among the most frequently petitioned for are the 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti at the Neues Museum in Berlin, the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, and the Dendera Zodiac at the Louvre.

Aside from arguments that their removal was legal under colonial-era laws, activists say the other case made against these items' return was that Egypt's museums were unable to handle such precious items, with repeated instances of damage or looting.

Even King Tutankhamen himself was not immune. In 2014, workers changing the lights at the old Egyptian Museum that was his home broke the beard from his gold funerary mask, then clumsily glued it back on in hopes that it would not be detected. (The mask was restored a few years later.)

Some Egyptologists say these arguments now ring hollow.

Not only is the Grand Egyptian Museum a suitable host, they say, but they question any institution that claims to be above problems of damage or looting. In 2020, oil was sprayed on 70 Egyptian artifacts (including sarcophagi) on Berlin's Museum Island, and European museums have been struck by a string of heists in recent years, including the theft last month of French crown jewels from the Louvre.

"Don't talk to me about protection, please," said Bassam El Shamaa, a well-known Egyptologist in Cairo. "Hello! We need our stuff back - especially from the Louvre."

Many Egyptians say the legal arguments defy a modern sense of ethics and historical reparation.

"It seems wrong to me that we should have to travel to a different country to see our own heritage," said Mohammed, the influencer. "They are ours — they're our identity."

Egyptian officials are more circumspect.

In an interview, the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mohamed Ismail Khaled, shied away from ethical arguments and stressed the legal complexities of seeking returns.

Nonetheless, he said, Egypt hopes to persuade European museums to send famous items like Nefertiti to the Grand Egyptian Museum for temporary exhibitions at least.

"We would like it if they could come visit

— just only for some time," he said. "So that Egyptians have the right to see their ancestors."

来源：左右图史