龔鵬程x塔萊｜紅海古卷與大金字塔

龔鵬程對話海外學者第一百一十一期：在后現代情境中，被技術統治的人類社會，只有強化交談、重建溝通倫理，才能獲得文化新生的力量。這不是誰的理論，而是每個人都應實踐的活動。龔鵬程先生遊走世界，并曾主持過“世界漢學研究中心”。我們會陸續推出“龔鵬程對話海外學者”系列文章，請他對話一些學界有意義的靈魂。范圍不局限于漢學，會涉及多種學科。以期深山長谷之水，四面而出。

皮埃爾·塔萊教授（?Professor Pierre TALLET）

巴黎索邦大學埃及考古學教授

龔鵬程教授：您好。自 2011 年以來，您一直在考古港口遺址瓦迪·賈爾夫（Wadi al-Jarf）進行挖掘。 這個考古遺址提供了大量的考古發現。 請您介紹一下瓦迪·賈爾夫遺址，它與大金字塔有著怎樣的聯系？

皮埃爾·塔萊教授：龔教授，您好。瓦迪·賈爾夫（Wadi el-Jarf）與艾因·蘇赫納（Ayn Sukhna） 和梅莎·格瓦西斯（Mersa Gawasis） 一樣，是最近在紅海沿岸發現的三個“間歇性港口”之一。

古埃及人經常通過海路前往西奈半島(蘇伊士灣東岸)或神秘的龐特之地(位于曼德海峽、也門海岸、埃塞俄比亞和南蘇丹海岸)。 瓦迪·賈爾夫港口始建于斯尼夫魯統治期間，在第四王朝的前兩個統治時期，即斯尼夫魯和胡夫的統治期間，可能僅非常短暫地使用了大約 50 年。在卡夫拉(胡夫的第二繼承人)的統治下，該港口被廢棄，取而代之的是更接近當時行政中心的艾因·蘇赫納港口。

這種“間歇性港口”的原理很簡單：將在紅海航行的船只被拆解，以“船舶套件”的形式，由人和驢從尼羅河谷通過沙漠軌道運到海岸。然后在海邊重新組裝，以便在夏季使用時利于航行。在探險結束時，船只再次被拆解，然后存放在距港口幾公里外的巖石上挖出的倉庫走廊里，等候新的用途，有時甚至要等至幾年后才會再次被使用。

在歷史上的這個時期，瓦迪·賈爾夫港口的戰略重要性尤為明顯：從那時起，埃及人可以開始開采西奈半島西南部豐富的銅礦。當時，他們對這種金屬的需求日益增加，以制造可以切割美杜姆、代赫舒爾和吉薩巨型金字塔的石灰石塊的工具。

因此，在胡夫時代，這個港口與大金字塔遺址有著直接聯系：它是遍布全國的設施網絡的一部分，用于收集和運輸建造這座巨大遺址所需的大量材料。如在后面會提到的紙莎草紙所示，相同的團隊在吉薩和這個港口站點工作。

The Wadi el-Jarf site is — along with Ayn Sukhna and Mersa Gawasis — one of the three “intermittent harbours” that have recently been identified on the Red Sea coast. These settlements were used by ancient Egyptians in the context of expeditions that were regularly sent by sea to either the Sinai Peninsula (on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Suez) or the still mysterious country of Punt, which must be placed in the region of Bab el-Mandab, and the coasts of Yemen, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. The wadi el-Jarf harbour was founded during the reign of Snefrou and was used only very briefly - may about 50 years only - during the two first reigns of the 4th dynasty, those of Snefrou and Khufu. Under Khafrê, 2nd successor of Khufu, the harbour was abandoned in favor of that of Ayn Sukhna, closer to the administrative centers of this time. The principle of such “intermittent harbours” is simple: the boats that were to navigate the Red Sea were transported dismanteled, in the form of “ship kits”, from the Nile valley to the coast though the desert tracks, by men and donkeys. They were then reassembled by the seashore, so that they could be used there during the summer season, which was favorable for navigation. At the end of the expedition, the boats were dismantled again, and then stored in warehouse-gallery dug into the rock a few kilometers from the port, awaiting new use, sometimes a few years later. The strategic importance of this harbour of Wadi el-Jarf is particularly evident at this time in history: it was from this point onwards that Egyptians could cast off to exploit the rich copper deposits in the south-west of the peninsula of Sinai. They had, at that time, an increased need for this metal, to make the tools with which one could cut the limestone blocks of the giant pyramids of Meidum, Dahshur and Giza. At the time of Khufu, this harbour was therefore in direct contact with the site of the Great Pyramid: it was part of a whole network of facilities set all over the country to collect and transport the enormous quantities of materials to be used in the construction of this gigantic monument. The same teams worked in Giza and on this port site, as the papyri found in the latter demonstrate.

Amongst the discoveries at the Wadi al-Jarf site are the Red Sea Scrolls, which are the oldest surviving written documents. You have written a captivating book about these scrolls entitled “The Red Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids”. Amongst these scrolls, one document of particular importance is the Diary of Merer. Who is Merer and what does he describe in his diary?

龔鵬程教授：在瓦迪·賈爾夫遺址中發現的紅海古卷是現存最古老的書面文件。 您為這些古卷曾撰寫了一部引人入勝的書——《紅海古卷：古代紙莎草紙如何揭示金字塔的秘密》。 在這些古卷中，有一份特別重要的文件是《梅勒日記》。 您可以介紹梅勒和他的日記嗎？

皮埃爾·塔萊教授：瓦迪·賈爾夫紙莎草紙主要是在遺址 G1 長廊前發現的：在這里，在用于封閉洞穴的兩塊大石灰石塊之間，有近1000份文件碎片，相當于至少30卷不同大小的紙莎草紙。這些包括會計文件和日志。

我們不可能知道這些文件和日志是因為不再有用而被丟棄了，還是被自愿留在現場的押金。 所有文件都是在胡夫統治末期間記錄的：第13次大小牲畜普查的年份，可能對應于他統治的第26年，出現在這批文件中的一個會計文件上，其中也提到了這個檔案的所有者：一群被稱為“船的護衛”的水手，他們指定“將胡夫的王冠作為船首”。

梅勒探長的名字經常出現在這部文獻的航海日志中，他是一個級別較低的經理，可能是一名海軍軍官，是這個團隊中一個分部的負責人。他指揮著一個專門從事航海的 40 人編隊（埃及語為“ZA-section”）。該檔案記錄的這一年中，他被賦予了多項不同的任務：特別是在尼羅河泛濫的幾個月里，他負責將石頭從圖拉的采石場運送到吉薩高原，在那里它們將被用于建造國王的陵墓。他在日志中記錄了他的團隊每天做了什么，以及他們在哪里過夜。盡管內容非常重復，但多虧了其中一些文件（紙莎草紙 A 和 B），我們甚至仍然有可能跟隨他的行動，了解到埃及人為了方便運送建造金字塔所用的材料，在吉薩高原腳下建造的液壓裝置。另一份文件（紙莎草紙 D）為我們提供了此時吉薩陵墓的寫照，并命名了在那里建立的一些皇家機構（糧倉、皇家住所、檔案館、山谷神廟）。

通過這位目擊者對建造大金字塔的證詞，我們可以更精確地了解這座實際上也是當時埃及國家心臟的陵墓。

根據日志中的會計文件，雖然梅勒的團隊中無疑都是是相對謙遜的人，但他們仍然是君主制下的永久雇員（而不是奴隸），似乎能享受到國家極好的待遇。

The Wadi el-Jarf papyri were mainly discovered in front of gallery G1 of the site: at this place, between two large blocks of limestone used to close the cave, nearly 1000 fragments of documents – corresponding to a minimum of about thirty rolls of papyrus of different sizes - were collected.These consist both of accounting documents and logbooks. It is impossible for us to know whether these were thrown away because they were no longer useful, or a deposit left voluntarily on site. All of these documents are dated from the end of the reign of Cheops: the year of the 13th census of large and small cattle, perhaps corresponding to year 26 of his reign, appears on one of the accounting documents in this lot, which also mentions the owner of this archive: a group of sailors called "the escorts of the boat named 'the Uraeus of Cheops is its prow'".

Inspector Merer, whose name appears regularly in the logbooks of this documentary lot, was a lower-level manager, probably a naval officer, who stood at the head of a subdivision of this team. He directs a formation of 40 people (a “ZA-section” in Egyptian) specialized in navigation. Throughout the year documented by this archive, he was entrusted with several different missions: he was in particular responsible for several months, when the Nile flooded, for transporting stones from the quarries of Tura to the Giza plateau, where they would be used in the construction of the king's funerary complex. The logbooks he writes indicates daily what his team did during that day, and where they spent the night. Although they are very repetitive, it is still possible, thanks to some of these documents (Papyrus A and B), to follow his movements, and even to get an idea of the hydraulic installations that the Egyptians had made at the foot of the Giza plateau, to facilitate the delivery of materials used in the construction of the monument. Another document (papyrus D) gives us a picture of the Giza necropolis at this time, naming some of the royal institutions established there (the Granary, the Royal Residence, the Archives, the Valley Temple). Through the testimony of this eyewitness to the construction of the Great Pyramid, we obtain more precise picture of this necropolis, which was in fact also the heart of the Egyptian state at that time. While Merer's team is undoubtedly made up of relatively modest people, they are nevertheless permanent employees of the monarchy (and not slaves) who seem to be treated particularly well by the state, according to the accounting documents found with the logbooks.

龔鵬程教授：除了紅海古卷，在瓦迪·賈爾夫遺址還有哪些重要的考古發現？

皮埃爾·塔萊教授：瓦迪·賈爾夫遺址尤為重要：它是第四王朝初期的一個重要戰略要地。紅海邊緣的這個定居點對依賴于金屬供應的君主制工程至關重要。 皇家政府直接控制了這個港口：這就是為什么除了紙莎草紙之外，這個地方到處都有銘文標注著在那里工作的團隊。

這些所謂的“控制標記”出現在用來封閉裝有遠征裝備的洞穴的砌塊上，在用來儲存水的罐子上，以及在石頭和金屬工具上。 我們還收集了許多土陶片-——寫在陶器或石頭上的會計文件 -——以及數百個可以證明幾名官員身份的印章。 所有這些元素都可以讓我們更好地了解訪問該地點的人員以及遠征后勤組織的生活和工作環境。

但毫無疑問的是，最有趣的發現是在距離海岸 5 公里的洞穴群中發現的船只殘骸及其設備。如果說船只本身可能是在遺址最終被廢棄時被埃及人收回的，那么許多木頭、繩索或帆上的織物碎片仍然為這個古代歷史時期的海軍建設提供了一個思路。

同樣在海岸，對海上設施本身的研究也取得了豐碩的成果。我們在瓦迪·賈爾夫觀察到迄今為止最古老的人工海港遺跡：測繪出一個用于保護停泊處免受北風影響的大型 L 形碼頭（東西長 200 米/南北長 200 米）。

在距離海岸200米遠的碼頭正上方的營地中，出土了 105 個石錨，總重21 噸。它們在胡夫統治末期被小心地存放在那里，并且仍然有很多人用紅墨水為他們裝備的船只命名。 因此我們得知了胡夫在紅海的最后一支艦隊是由四艘船組成的。 我們有時會有一種時光倒流的感覺，仿佛這一切都發生在昨天——到目前為止，景觀可能沒有太大變化——而港口卻在 4500 多年前就關閉了。

The Wadi el-Jarf site is particularly important: it was a major strategic point at the beginning of the 4th dynasty. From this settlement on the edge of the Red Sea depended the metal supplies that were vital for the projects of the monarchy. The royal administration controlled this port directly: this is the reason why, apart from the papyri, the site is littered with inscriptions identifying the teams who worked there. These so-called "control marks" are found on the blocks used to close the caves containing the expeditionary equipment, on the jars used to store water, as well as on the stone and metal tools. Numerous ostraca – accounting documents written on pottery or stones – were also collected, as well as hundreds of sealings identifying several officials. All these elements make it possible to better understand the personnel who visited the site, and the very conditions of the logistical organization of the expeditions.

But what undoubtedly gives us the most interesting piece of information are the remainders of boats and their equipment found in the complex of caves 5 km from the coast. If the boats themselves were probably taken back by the Egyptians during the final abandonment of the site, many fragments of wood, ropes, or fabric from the sails, still provide an idea on naval construction in this ancient period of history. Also on the coast, the study of the maritime installations themselves has been very fruitful. We observe at the Wadi el-Jarf the oldest remains so far of an artificial harbour built into the sea : a large L-shaped pier (200 m west-east / 200 m north-south), fitted out to protect the mooring area from the north wind, was surveyed and drawn there.

In the camps located directly above this jetty, 200 m from the coast, a deposit of 105 stone anchors - representing a total weight of 21 tons - was unearthed. They had been carefully stored there at the end of Khufu’s reign, and still bear, for a large number of them, inscriptions in red ink giving the name of the boats they equipped. Khufu’s last fleet in the Red Sea, composed of four ships, is thus known to us. We sometimes have the impression of going back in time, and that all this happened yesterday — and the landscape has probably not changed so much so far — while the closure of the port took place more than 4500 years ago.

龔鵬程教授：您可以和我們分享一下您的考古發現旅程和探險嗎?

皮埃爾·塔萊教授：我們花了幾年時間定位瓦迪·賈爾夫遺址的位置。

此前曾有過兩次報告：19 世紀初由英國探險家詹姆斯·伯頓和約翰·加德納·威爾金森和1950 年代由法國蘇伊士運河飛行員弗朗索瓦·比西和勒內·夏博·莫里索所報告。 這兩種報告，已對距離海岸5公里的洞穴區域進行了勘探，但尚未了解它們的功能，當時人們對法老文化在紅海的活動一無所知。

正是利用前人留下的關于該遺址的筆記和研究衛星圖像，我們才得以發現到它。

在1990年代末發現另一個法老港艾因蘇赫納后，我已經在紅海研究了大約十年。

該港口仍位于蘇伊士灣沿岸，向北100 公里。艾因蘇赫納港口在第四王朝中期（約公元前 2500 年）和第十八王朝（約公元前 1550-1450 年）之間斷斷續續地被占用著，對這個港口的研究，使我對埃及人在西奈方向發起的遠征的后勤組織產生了更廣泛的興趣。

2006年，我還在西奈半島西南部開展了一項調查，以整理埃及人在銅和綠松石開采遺址上留下的遺跡(礦山、紀念探險的巖石銘文、營地、礦石加工高爐)。在這些沙漠任務中有許多發現，特別是在 Wadi Ameyra 發現的前王朝時期或原始王朝時期的銘文，或者在 Seh Nasb 發現的一個巨大的古王國冶金建筑群。

It took several years to relocate the site of the wadi el-Jarf. It had been reported twice before: by English explorers James Burton and John Gardner Wilkinson in the early 19th century, and thereafter by French Suez Canal pilots Fran?ois Bissey and René Chabot Morisseau in the 1950s. In both cases, the area of thecaves, 5 km from the coast, had been explored, but their function had not been understood yet, at a time when nothing was known of the activities of the pharaonic culture on the Red Sea. It was by using the notes left by our predecessors about the site and by studying satellite images that we were able to find it back.

I had already been working on the Red Sea for about ten years, following the discovery at the end of the 1990s of another pharaonic port in Ayn Soukhna, 100 km further north, still on the coast of the Gulf of Suez. The study of this port, occupied intermittently between the middle of the 4th dynasty (c. 2500 BC) and the 18th dynasty (c. 1550-1450 BC) led me to take a more general interest in the logistical organization of the expeditions launched by the Egyptians in the direction of Sinai.

In 2006, I had also launched a survey in the south-west of the Sinai Peninsula proper, to curate an inventory of the vestiges left by the Egyptians on the very sites of the exploitation of copper and turquoise (mines, rock inscriptions commemorating expeditions, camps, ore processing furnaces). Many discoveries were made during these missions in the desert, in particular that of inscriptions of the pre or proto-dynastic period at Wadi Ameyra, or of a huge Old Kingdom metallurgical complex at Seh Nasb.

It was in 2008 that we were able to visit for the first time the site of Wadi el-Jarf : we first identified dry stone camps, located on the top of limestone mounds, then quickly found, 500 m further the west, the system of warehouse-galleries which is the most spectacular part of the site. Those caves had all remained open, following the last Egyptian expedition, probably during the reign of Khafrê. This king had undoubtedly commissioned a systematic recovery operation of the material they contained. But, despite the significant accumulation of silt and sand in most of those caves, the abundance of archaeological material sometimes still visible on the surface, including jars inscribed in red ink, fragments of wood and fabrics, immediately demonstrated the potential of the site. It was then necessary to wait three more years to obtain the authorizations to work on the site, but the first excavation campaign, in June 2011, immediately confirmed that this site was truly exceptional.

龔鵬程，1956年生于臺北，臺灣師范大學博士，當代著名學者和思想家。著作已出版一百五十多本。

辦有大學、出版社、雜志社、書院等，并規劃城市建設、主題園區等多處。講學于世界各地。并在北京、上海、杭州、臺北、巴黎、日本、澳門等地舉辦過書法展。現為中國孔子博物館名譽館長、臺灣國立東華大學終身榮譽教授、美國龔鵬程基金會主席。