当地时间3月6日，埃及文物部宣布，考古学家在埃及南部的一座古庙中，出土了一尊“迷你版笑脸”狮身人面像（sphinx）。专家认为它代表了2000多年前的罗马皇帝克劳狄乌斯（Claudius）。↓

（视频戳这里）
 

据BBC报道，这尊“迷你版”石灰岩（limestone）狮身人面像，是在埃及首都开罗以南450公里的基纳丹德拉神庙的一间两层墓室中发现的。

 

Archaeologists have unearthed a sphinx-like statue and the remains of a shrine in an ancient temple in southern Egypt, the antiquities ministry says.

The artefacts were found inside a two-level tomb in the temple of Dendera in Qena Province, 450km south of the capital of Cairo.

它有“笑脸和两个酒窝（smiley face and two dimples）”，比著名的吉萨金字塔中20米高的狮身人面像要小得多。

 

The limestone sphinx is much smaller than the famous Sphinx in the Pyramids of Giza, which is 20m high.

另据CNN报道，埃及前文物部部长、埃及学教授埃尔达马蒂称，这尊雕像具有“皇室的面部特征”。它有着两个酒窝的“温柔微笑”。它的头上还戴着古埃及法老戴的眼镜蛇式头巾(nemes)。

 

Mamdouh Eldamaty, a former minister of antiquities and professor of Egyptology at Ain Shams University, described the statue as bearing "royal facial features." It had a "soft smile" with two dimples. It also wore a nemes on its head -- the striped cloth headdress traditionally worn by pharaohs of ancient Egypt, with a cobra-shaped end or "uraeus."

在“迷你版”狮身人面像下面，考古学家还发现了一块刻有罗马时代象形文字和通俗文字的罗马石碑。

A Roman stela with hieroglyphic and demotic writings from the Roman era was found below the sphinx.

埃尔达马蒂表示，这尊雕像可能代表的是罗马第四位皇帝克劳狄乌斯(公元41年至54年在位)，但仍需要更多的研究来核实这座建筑的所有者和历史。

The professor said that the statue may represent the Roman Emperor Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor who ruled from the year 41 to 54, but noted that more studies are needed to verify the structure's owner and history.

CNN报道介绍，狮身人面怪是古埃及、波斯和希腊文化神话中反复出现的生物。它们的肖像经常出现在坟墓或宗教建筑附近。

Sphinxes are recurring creatures in the mythologies of ancient Egyptian, Persian and Greek cultures. Their likenesses are often found near tombs or religious buildings.

在埃及发现新的狮身人面像并不罕见。但这个国家最著名的狮身人面像——吉萨狮身人面像，可以追溯到公元前2500年左右，代表古埃及法老哈夫拉。

 

 

It is not uncommon for new sphinx statues to be found in Egypt. But the country's most famous sphinx, the Great Sphinx of Giza, dates back to around 2,500 BC and represents the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Khafre.

BBC报道称，也有一些专家认为，埃及政府的这些新发现，是为了吸引更多游客，在埃及严重的经济危机中重振旅游业。

Some experts see these discoveries by the Egyptian government as a way of attracting more tourists, to revive its tourism industry amid a severe economic crisis in Egypt.

综合来源：CNN, BBC