第1752-f期:Ancient Culture in Turkey Might Have Been Brought Down by Dry Weather

Over three thousand years ago, several important civilizations in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean collapsed or decreased in power. This event is called the Bronze Age collapse.

三千多年前，中东和地中海东部的几个重要文明崩溃或衰落。 这个事件被称为青铜时代的崩溃。

One of the strongest to disappear was the Hittite empire in what is now Turkey and parts of Syria and Iraq.

最强大的消失者之一是位于现在土耳其以及叙利亚和伊拉克部分地区的赫梯帝国。

Researchers recently offered new ideas about the Hittite collapse. An examination of trees alive at the time showed three years of too little rainfall, or severe drought. The drought may have caused crop failures, hunger and political problems.

研究人员最近提出了有关赫梯崩溃的新想法。 对当时活着的树木进行的检查表明，三年来降雨量太少，或者是严重干旱。 干旱可能导致作物歉收、饥饿和政治问题。

The Hittites had their capital Hattusa in Turkey’s central Anatolia. At the time, they were one of the ancient world's great powers. The Hittites became the main competitors of the ancient Egyptian empire during its New Kingdom period.

赫梯人的首都哈图萨位于土耳其中部的安纳托利亚。 当时，他们是古代世界的强国之一。 赫梯人成为古埃及新王国时期的主要竞争对手。

Sturt Manning of Cornell University was the lead writer of the research published in Nature. He said that in ancient times, the Hittites controlled a huge area for hundreds of years although they faced threats from neighbors and the difficulty of being in a dry area.

康奈尔大学的斯特曼宁是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的主要作者。 他说，在古代，赫梯人虽然面临着邻国的威胁，也面临着身处干旱地区的困难，但他们控制着广阔的地区达数百年之久。

Scholars long have wondered what caused the fall of the Hittites and the collapse of other civilizations in Greece, Crete and the Middle East. Ideas have included war and climate change. The new study offers some new ideas about the Hittites.

长期以来，学者们一直想知道是什么导致了赫梯人的衰落以及希腊、克里特岛和中东其他文明的崩溃。 想法包括战争和气候变化。 这项新研究提供了一些关于赫梯人的新想法。

The trees offered a record of the climate at the time in two ways. First, there are the yearly growth rings in the trees. For example, narrow tree rings suggest dry conditions. Then, there is the ratio of two forms of carbon within the rings. The carbon forms show how the tree dealt with water availability.

这些树木以两种方式记录了当时的气候。 首先，树木有年轮。 例如，狭窄的树木年轮表明天气干燥。 然后，环内有两种形式的碳的比例。 碳形式显示了树木如何处理水的可用性。

Researchers discovered a slow change to drier conditions during a period about 3200 years ago. More importantly, both forms of evidence suggested three straight years of severe drought, in 1198, 1197 and 1196 BC. These years are the same as the known timing of the empire's collapse.

研究人员发现，在大约 3200 年前的一段时期内，气候条件发生了缓慢变化。 更重要的是，两种形式的证据都表明在公元前 1198、1197 和 1196 年连续三年发生严重干旱。 这些年与已知的帝国崩溃时间相同。

Study co-writer Brita Lorentzen of the University of Georgia said: "There was likely near-complete crop failure for three consecutive years. The people most likely had food stores that would get them through a single year of drought. But when hit with three consecutive years, there was no food to sustain them."

佐治亚大学的研究合著者 Brita Lorentzen 说：“可能连续三年几乎完全歉收。人们很可能有粮食储备来度过一年的干旱。但是当遭受三年 连续几年，没有食物可以维持他们的生活。”

Lorentzen added, "This would have led to a collapse of the tax base...and likely a mass movement of people seeking survival.”

洛伦岑补充说，“这将导致税基崩溃……并可能导致人们寻求生存的大规模运动。”

She explained that the Hittites did not have a port or other easy way of moving food into the area.

她解释说，赫梯人没有港口或其他方便的方式将食物运送到该地区。

Hattusa, a city protected by a large, stone wall, was burned and abandoned. Texts written on clay tablets using the cuneiform writing common in the area did not report what happened.

Hattusa 是一座由大型石墙保护的城市，被烧毁并被遗弃。 使用该地区常见的楔形文字书写在粘土板上的文本没有报道发生的事情。

It was a sudden end. Less than one hundred years earlier, the Hittites under king Muwatalli II and the Egyptians under pharaoh Rameses II fought the famous Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC. The groups reached history's first recorded peace treaty.

这是一个突然的结束。 不到一百年前，国王穆瓦塔利二世统治下的赫梯人和法老拉美西斯二世统治下的埃及人在公元前 1274 年打了一场著名的加低斯战役。 这些团体达成了历史上第一个有记录的和平条约。

Study co-writer Jed Sparks of Cornell University said: "I think this study really shows the lessons we can learn from history. The climate changes that are likely to occur for us in the next century will be much more severe than those the Hittites experienced."

研究合著者康奈尔大学的杰德·斯帕克斯说：“我认为这项研究确实展示了我们可以从历史中吸取的教训。下个世纪我们可能发生的气候变化将比赫梯人经历的气候变化严重得多 ”

Sparks added that these lessons create questions about our own time. “What is our resilience? How much can we withstand?"

Sparks 补充说，这些教训对我们自己的时代提出了疑问。 “我们的韧性如何？ 我们能承受多少？”

The researchers examined long-lived juniper trees that grew in the area at the time and eventually were used to build a wooden structure about 2700 years ago. The structure is southwest of Ankara. It might have been the burial place for a family member of Phrygia's King Midas.

研究人员检查了当时生长在该地区并最终在大约 2700 年前用于建造木结构的长寿杜松树。 该结构位于安卡拉西南部。 它可能是弗里吉亚国王迈达斯 (King Midas) 一位家庭成员的墓地。