7　兩河流域

美索不達(dá)米亞——東方文明的第二大中心

我將把你帶到金字塔的最高端，請你設(shè)想自己擁有一雙雄鷹般的眼睛。眺望遠(yuǎn)處，穿過大片黃沙，你會(huì)看到一個(gè)綠色的東西微閃著亮光，那是位于兩河之間的谷地。它就是《舊約》中的天堂。它是一塊神秘而傳奇的土地，希臘人稱之為美索不達(dá)米亞——“河流之間的國家”。

這兩條河，分別是幼發(fā)拉底河（巴比倫人叫普拉圖河）和底格里斯河（也就是著名的迪克拉特河）。兩條河都發(fā)源于亞美尼亞山上的積雪。亞美尼亞山也曾是挪

兩河流域，古代世界的大熔爐

the snows of the mountains of Armenia where Noah’s Ark found a resting place and slowly they flow through the southern plain until they reach the muddy banks of the Persian gulf. They perform a very useful service. They turn the arid regions of western Asia into a fertile garden.

The valley of the Nile had attracted people because it had offered them food upon fairly easy terms. The “l(fā)and between the rivers” was popular for the same reason. It was a country full of promise and both the inhabitants of the northern mountains and the tribes which roamed through the southern deserts tried to claim this territory as their own and most exclusive possession. The constant rivalry between the mountaineers and the desert-nomads led to endless warfare.Only the strongest and the bravest could hope to survive and that will explain why Mesopotamia became the home of a very strong race of men who were capable of creating a civilisation which was in every respect as important as that of Egypt.

亞方舟的棲身之所。這兩條河緩慢流經(jīng)南方平原，最后到達(dá)波斯灣的泥岸邊。它們做出了有益的貢獻(xiàn)，把西亞干旱的土地變成了肥沃的田園。

尼羅河谷一直吸引著人們，因?yàn)樗屓藗兎浅］p易地獲得食物。“兩河間的土地”受到歡迎也是出于同樣的原因。這是一片充滿希望的國土。不論是北方山區(qū)的居民，還是從南方沙漠巡游過來的部落，都想把這塊土地占為己有，不想與外邦分享。山民和沙漠的游牧民之間沖突不斷，導(dǎo)致沒完沒了的戰(zhàn)爭。只有最強(qiáng)大、最勇敢的人才有望生存下來。這足以解釋為什么美索不達(dá)米亞的人非常強(qiáng)悍，創(chuàng)造出一個(gè)與埃及相當(dāng)?shù)蔫参拿鳌?/p>