沙特阿拉伯
玛甸沙勒(也被称为黑格拉)的纳巴泰墓,沙特阿拉伯 (© Tuul & Bruno Morandi/Getty Images)
孤独的城堡(The lonely castle)
大约2000年前,马丹·萨利赫(Mada'in Saleh),或罗马人所称的赫格拉(Hegra),是纳巴坦王国的一个繁荣城市,也是香料、香料和没药(一种用于制造香水和药物的贵重树脂)的贸易中心。纳巴塔人是阿拉伯人,其确切起源尚不清楚。他们住在阿拉伯北部和黎凡特南部。马丹·萨利赫是他们的第二大也是最南端的城市,仅次于北部的首都佩特拉。大约在佩特拉和麦加之间的半路上,马丹·萨利赫主要充当贸易十字路口,并帮助纳巴塔人成为通往古代世界其他地区的繁荣中间人。
原文:
About 2,000 years ago, Mada’in Saleh, or Hegra as the Romans called it, was a thriving city of the Nabataean Kingdom, and a centre for the trade of spices, incense, and myrrh, a valuable tree resin used to make perfume and medicine. The Nabataeans were Arab people whose precise origins are unknown. They lived in northern Arabia and the Southern Levant. Mada’in Saleh was their second-largest and southernmost city after Petra, their capital city to the north. About halfway between Petra and Mecca, Mada’in Saleh served primarily as a trading crossroads and was instrumental in establishing the Nabataeans as prosperous middlemen to the rest of the ancient world.
《© Tuul & Bruno Morandi/Getty Images》