Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.

旁白：听一段考古学的讲座。

Professor: The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt might be the most famous building in the world.

教授：埃及吉萨的大金字塔可能是世界上最著名的建筑。

We know exactly when it was built.

我们很精确地知道它是什么时候造的。

Construction started in 2547 B.C.E., about 4500 years ago.

建造工程从公元前2547年开始，大约是4500年前。

We know who had it built.

我们知道是谁造的它。

That was the pharaoh Khufu.

那就是胡夫法拉。

And we know who oversaw its constructio--the pharaoh's brother.

我们也知道是谁监督这项工程的——那就是长老的兄弟。

We know so many things about it, but the funny thing is: we still don't know exactly how it was built.

我们知道很多关于它的事情，但是很滑稽的事情是：我们始终不知道它是怎样建造的。

This picture will give you an idea of the size of the Pyramid and the size of the blocks it's made out of.

这张图片会很清楚的让你知道金字塔的大小和建造它的砖块的大小。

About two million stone blocks were used to build the Great Pyramid and they are incredibly massive.

建造大金字塔大约用了2,000,000块石砖，并且这些石砖都非常庞大。

The average weight is two and a half tons.

石砖的平均重量大约是2.5吨。

The problem that has puzzled scholars for centuries is how were these blocks lifted up the height of this massive structure and then fit into place and without the benefit of modern technology.

困扰了学者们几个世纪的问题就是：在没有现代科技的帮助下，这些砖块到底是怎么被搬起来，并且放到合适的位置的。

Of course, there've been a lot of theories over the centuries.

当然，在这几个世纪中有很多关于这个的理论。

The oldest recorded one is by the Greek historian Herodotus.

最古老的有记录的理论是希腊历史学家希罗多德的。

He visited Egypt around 450 B.C.E., when the Pyramid was already 2000 years old.

他在公元前450年游览了埃及，当时金字塔已经有了2000年的历史了。

His theory was that cranes were used, much like we use cranes today to construct tall buildings.

他的理论是：使用了起重机，就像是我们现在用起重机去建造高建筑一样。

And Herodotus may have seen Egyptians using cranes made of wood.

并且希罗多德可能见到埃及人使用木质的起重机。

But the problem with this theory has to do with simple mechanics.

但是这个理论的问题在于简单力学。

A crane needs a wide and sturdy base to stand on or it will fall over.

一个起重机需要一个又宽又结实的底部去支撑，不然它就会倒下。

Well, as you get toward the top of the Pyramid, there's really no place for a crane to stand.

那么，当你到达金字塔顶部时，那里并没有地方让起重机站立。

The stone blocks are too narrow to provide a base.

那里的石块太窄了以至于不能提供一个很好的底座。

Well, so much for that theory.

针对这个理论就到此为止了。

The next one has to do with the use of a ramp that would allow workers to drag a stone block up the side of the structure.

下一个理论说的是斜坡的使用使得工人们可以将石砖拖拽到建筑的上边。

Of course the ramp can't be too steep.

当然，斜坡不能太陡。

It has to have a long gentle slope.

它必须有一个又长又缓的坡度。

And that's the problem.

但是那就是问题。

If you build a ramp with a slight slope up to the top of a Pyramid that's over 130 meters high, it would have to be almost two kilometers long.

如果你建造一个低坡度的斜坡到达130米高的金字塔顶，那么这个坡道几乎要有2公里。

Well, the Pyramid is built on a flat area called the Giza Plateau.

而金字塔是在一个叫做吉萨的平原地带建造。

The Plateau is simply not big enough to accommodate a two-kilometer-long ramp.

高原地带不足以容纳一个2公里长的坡道。

OK. So what now?

好的。那现在怎么样？

Well, if you've ever driven on a mountain road, you'd know that it has a lot of twists and turns and bends in it, because that's how engineers keep the road from having to be too steep.

如果你在山路上行驶过，你就知道它有很多弯道，这是因为工程师们为了防止道路太过陡峭。

So why not wrap the ramp around the Pyramid?

那么为什么不在金字塔周围弯曲坡道呢？

Building the ramp around it as you go?

如同你们说的在金字塔周围造坡道。

Sounds like a pretty good idea.

听上去好像是个好主意。

Except it's got a serious problem.

除了有一个很严重的问题。

See…one of the most remarkable things about the Great Pyramid is how accurate the proportions are.

关于大金字塔最值得注意的是它精确的比例。

The dimensions are almost perfect.

每个维度都几乎是完美的。

To get that perfection, the engineers must have had to measure it repeatedly during construction.

要达到那个完美程度，工程师必须在建造过程中重复地测量。

And the way you'd measure it is from the four corners of the base.

测量是从底部的四个角开始。

Well, if you got a ramp spiraling up from the base of the Pyramid, those corners would be buried by that ramp during construction.

如果坡道从金字塔底部周围盘旋而起，那么这几个角就会在建筑过程中被坡道掩埋。

Well, who says the ramp has to be on the outside of the Pyramid?

那么，谁说坡道一定要建立在金字塔外边的呢？

And now we get to the latest idea.

那么，现在我们又有了最新的说法。

If the ramp were on the inside of the Pyramid, the corners at the base would be exposed, so the engineers could do their measurements while they were building.

如果坡道是在金字塔内部建造的，金字塔底部的角就会露出来，因此工程师们就可以在建造的时候测量这个建筑。

Well, an architect named Houdin has spent a few years working on making computer models of the building of the Pyramid.

一个叫做Houdin的建筑师已经花了很多年用电脑绘制金字塔建造的模型。

And what Houdin believes is that an exterior straight ramp was used to construct the bottom third of the Pyramid, this ramp would have been fairly short.

Houdin相信的是一个外部的直坡道被用来建造金字塔底部三层，这个坡道应该是相当短的。

It probably rose less than 50 meters.

这个坡道可能上升到不满50米高。

Then the rest of the Pyramid was constructed using an internal ramp that spiraled around the inside of the Pyramid.

然后，剩下的金字塔会使用内部盘旋的坡道。

But how can we test this idea?

但是，现在我们怎么测试这个说法呢？

Well, there are several ways to look inside the Pyramid.

好的，有好几个方法可以看一下金字塔的内部。

One is called microgravimetry.

有一个技术叫做微重力测量。

Microgravimetry is a technique that's used to detect voids inside a structure.

微重力测量这种技术被用来检测建筑内部的孔隙率。

You can then take the data and generate an image that shows any empty spaces in the interior.

然后，你可以用这个数据去形成可以展现内部空旷区域的图像。

Well, in 1986, French scientists completed a microgravimetric survey of the Pyramid.

在1986年，法国科学家用微重力调查了金字塔。

And one of the images they produced showed an empty spiral-shaped space inside it.

他们绘制的图像中有一张展示了在其内部空的盘旋空间。

The shape of that space corresponds exactly to what Houdin thought the ramp would look like.

这个空间的形状恰好和Houdin认为的坡道很相似。

I think Herodotus would be convinced.

我认为希罗多德会被说服的。

We might very well be at the end of centuries of guessing.

很可能这几个世纪猜测已经要结束了。