Builders in Vatican City were hard at work on a parking garage when they made a strange discovery: a well-preserved necropolis that is thousands of years old. As of last week, it is on display as a museum that gives people a window into society and religion in Rome during the time of the emperors. Walkways overlooking the dig allow visitors to view the city of the dead.
Archeologists took three years to uncover about 250 tombs of different shapes and sizes. The tombs range in age from a few years before the life of Jesus Christ to the early fourth century, under the emperors Augustus through Constantine.
The archeologists tried to leave much of the site alone, so that the necropolis can be seen almost exactly how it was found. There are tombs with urns that still hold ashes, and skeletons still lying in the places carved out for them.
PHOTO: AP
Coffins belonging to wealthy families lie alongside humble, giving clues to social classes, daily life and the religious upheaval that was rocking Rome at the beginning of Christianity.
Among tombs covered with scenes of hunting lies the simpler tomb of a young horseman who died at age 17. On it are pictures of a philosopher, a woman at prayer under a tree and a bird. Archeologists believe this suggests that the youth and his family belonged to the first generation of Christians.
The site may be visited by appointment on Friday and Saturday mornings.
(AFP)
梵蒂岡城的建築工人在停車場施工時有重大的發現︰保存良好的千年古墓群。上週此遺址以博物館的形式公開展示,提供民眾一扇窺視羅馬帝國時期社會及宗教的窗口,民眾在博物館走道上可俯瞰整個考古遺址。
考古學家花了三年,挖掘出約兩百五十具各式大小棺木,年份自耶穌基督出生前幾年至西元四世紀初,縱貫奧古斯丁到康士坦丁大帝的統治時期。
考古學家試圖保留遺址中多半的文物,儘量維持古墓群出土時的原貌。墓群中的骨灰罈仍存放著骨灰,骨骸也仍置於原位。
富裕家庭和清寒貧戶的靈柩並列,可看出基督教早期的社會階級、日常生活和撼動羅馬帝國的宗教動亂。
覆蓋著狩獵圖的石棺中,有一具風格較簡單的靈柩,是十七歲的青年馬伕之墓,其上畫著一名哲學家和一名婦女在樹和鳥下禱告的景象,考古學家相信這顯示這名青年和家人為第一代的基督徒。
民眾可在星期五及星期六早上預約參觀。
(法新社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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