25、The Rise & Fall of Meroe

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The city of Meroe occupied over one square mile of fertile ground and, at its height, was a great center of iron smelting, agriculture, and trade. Van De Mieroop writes, "The Ptolemies [of Egypt] and Romans wanted African goods such as hardwoods, ivory, other exotica, and animals including elephants. Those animals had become important in warfare" (340). One of the earliest documented cases of political cooperation between the Kingdom of Meroe and the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, in fact, concerns Meroe supplying Egypt with elephants for war.
The iron industry of Meroe made the city as famous as its wealth and, of course, contributed greatly to that wealth as the ironworkers of Meroe were considered the best, and iron tools and weapons were much sought after. Situated fortuitously on the banks of the Nile, Meroe overlooked rolling grasslands and fertile fields. Broad avenues are said to have opened the city to its people and they walked past statues of great stone rams to the Temple of Amun, located toward the city's center.
The royalty of the city lived in great palaces while the working class lived in rectangular houses of mud as well as huts (so surmised from archaeological evidence and ancient writings). The people gathered rainfall in great cisterns, the largest of which was 820 feet (250 m.) in diameter and 32 feet (10 m.) deep, decorated around the sides with figures of animals, providing enough water for a population of 300,000.
Today Meroe is the most extensive archaeological site in the Republic of Sudan, and the ruins of the pyramids, palaces, and official buildings stand silent where the populous city once thrived. While some have speculated on a 'mysterious' disappearance of the people of Meroe, the victory stele on the site, erected by a Christian Aksum King (thought to be King Ezana) makes it clear that the city was conquered by the Aksumites around the year 330 CE.
This date marks the death of the Meroitic written and spoken language. The Aksumite invasion, coupled with the overuse of the land leading to desertification, led to the rapid decline of Meroe. The iron industry, requiring enormous amounts of wood, led to deforestation of the surrounding lands while cattle grazing and agriculture destroyed fields and depleted the soil. Meroe was eventually abandoned and, by the 5th century CE, had been transformed into a city of mystery and legend.



https://www.worldhistory.org/Meroe/

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The ancient civilization of Meroe experienced its rise and fall through various climatic and environmental impacts. The dangerously hot and dry conditions of the Sahara had encouraged many to migrate towards the fertile and plentiful Nile River valley during its early years of development.

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Meroe was a bustling city.What was Meroe's class relationship like?

霁幽子yukari

麦罗埃城占据了一平方英里多的肥沃土地，在它最鼎盛的时期是一个炼铁、农业和贸易的中心。Van De Mieroop写道，“(埃及的)托勒密王朝和罗马人想要硬木、象牙、其他外来物品和大象等动物等非洲商品。这些动物在战争中变得很重要”。事实上，最早记录在案的梅罗王国和埃及托勒密王朝之间的政治合作案例之一，是关于麦罗埃向埃及提供大象用于战争的。
麦罗埃的铁工业使这座城市和它的财富一样出名，当然，这对这座城市的财富贡献很大，因为麦罗埃的铁匠被认为是最好的，铁工具和武器也很受欢迎。麦罗埃坐落在尼罗河岸边，俯瞰着起伏的草原和肥沃的田地。这座城市用宽阔的街道向人们敞开大门，人们走过巨大的石羊雕像，来到位于城市中心的阿蒙神庙。
城市的皇室成员住在宏伟的宫殿里，而工人阶级则住在由泥土和茅屋组成的矩形房屋里(这是根据考古证据和古代文字推测的)。人们把雨水收集在巨大的蓄水池里，其中最大的蓄水池直径820英尺(250米)，深32英尺(10米)，周围装饰着动物形象，为30万人提供了足够的水。

霁幽子yukari

如今的麦罗埃是苏丹共和国最广为人知的考古遗址，金字塔、宫殿和官方建筑的遗迹在这个人口稠密的城市曾经繁荣的地方安静地矗立着。虽然有人猜测麦罗埃的人民“神秘”消失了，但遗址上的胜利碑是由信奉基督教的阿克苏姆国王(据信是埃扎纳国王)竖立的，它清楚地表明这座城市是在公元330年左右被阿克苏姆人征服的。
这一日期标志着麦罗埃的书面和口头语言的消亡。阿克苏米特人的入侵，加上土地的过度使用导致了沙漠化，促进了麦罗埃的迅速衰落。铁工业需要大量的木材，导致周围土地大面积砍伐，而养牛和农业破坏了田地，消耗了土壤。麦罗埃最终被遗弃，到了公元5世纪，它已经变成了一个传奇中的城市不复存在。
翻译来源：https://fanyi.youdao.com/
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