另一個難題是空中花園的保養。對於一般建築物來說，要長年經受河水的侵蝕而維持保養下來是不可能的。由於美索不達米亞平原沒有太多石塊，因此人們相信空中花園所用的磚塊與一般石塊不同，它們中摻入了蘆葦、瀝青及瓦。還有文獻指出石塊中被加入了一層鉛，以防止河水滲入地基。
直到20世紀，圍繞著空中花園的一些不解之迷才被揭示出來。在得出關於花園的地理位置、灌溉係統和真正麵目的最終結論之前，考古學家們仍在努力地收集足夠的證據。
2.The Son of the Sea—The Phoenician Civilization 海之驕子—腓尼基文明
Making People Both Love and Hate of the Seafaring People 讓人既愛又恨的航海民族
The Phoenicians,who were the neighbours of the Jews,were a Semitic[1]tribe which at a very early age had settled along the shores of the Mediterranean.They had built themselves two well-fortified towns,Tyre and Sidon,and within a short time they had gained a monopoly of the trade of the western seas.Their ships went regularly to Greece and ltaly and Spain and they even ventured beyond the straits of Gibraltar to visit the Stilly islands where they could buy tin.Wherever they went,they built themselves small trading stations,which they called colonies.Many of these were the origin of modern cities,such as Cadiz and Marseilles.
They traded everything which could bring them a good profit.They were not troubled by a conscience[2].If their neighbours weren\\u0027t pompous,they did not know what was the means of honesty and integrity.They regarded a well-filled treasure chest as the highest ideal of all good citizens.Indeed they were very unpleasant people and did not have a single friend.Nevertheless they were rendered all coming generations’one service of the greatest possible value.They gave us alphabet[3].
腓尼基人是猶太人的鄰居，同屬閃米特部族。在很早的時候，他們沿地中海海岸定居下來，並修築了兩座防備堅固的城市——提爾和西頓。沒過多長時間，他們便壟斷了西方海域的貿易。他們的船隻定期開往希臘、意大利和西班牙，甚至還冒險駛過直布羅陀海峽，到錫利群島采購錫。他們所到之處建立起一些小型的貿易據點，稱為“殖民地”。許多現代城市都起源於腓尼基人建立的小貿易站，比如卡迪斯和馬賽。
腓尼基人買賣有利可圖的一切東西，卻從未覺得良心不安。如果他們的鄰居沒有誇大其辭，那麼腓尼基人就是既不誠實，也不正直的人。他們把裝得滿滿的錢箱當成是所有正派公民的最高理想。事實上，他們極不招人喜歡，也從未交到過朋友。不過，他們給後人留下了一筆極有價值的遺產—字母。
The Origin of Modern Alphabet—Phoenician Alphabet 現代字母的起源——腓尼基字母
The Phoenicians had been familiar with the art of writing,invented by the Sumerians.But they regarded these pothooks as a clumsy waste of time.They were practical business men and could not spend hours engraving two or three letters.They set to work and invented a new system of writing which was greatly superior to the old one.They borrowed a few pictures from the Egyptians and simplified a number of thewedge-shapedfigures of the Sumerians.They sacrificed the pretty looks of the older system for the advantage of speed and they reduced the thousands of different images to a short and handy alphabet of twenty-two letters.Later on,this alphabets traveled across the Aegean Sea and entered Greece.The Greeks added a few letters of their own and carried the improved system to ltaly.The Romans modified thefigures and taught them to the wild barbarians of Western Europe.
腓尼基人熟悉蘇美爾人發明的楔形文字，不過他們覺得這些歪斜的筆劃既笨拙又浪費時間。他們是凡事講求實際的商人，不肯把大量的時間花在雕刻這些繁瑣的字母上。於是他們投入工作，發明了一種大大優於楔形文字的新文字體係。他們從埃及的象形文字中借來幾個圖案，並簡化了數個蘇美爾人的楔形文字。以犧牲舊有文字的優美外形為代價，追求書寫的速度和效率，終於，他們將數千個不同的文字圖案簡化成短小而方便的22個字母。後來，這些字母越過愛琴海傳入希臘。希臘人為其增添了幾個自己創造的字母，並將改進的字母係統帶到意大利。羅馬人對字母的外形稍加修改，又將它們教給西歐的野蠻部落。
[1]Semitic adj.閃米特（尤指猶太）人的；閃語族（包括希伯來語、阿拉伯語）的
[2]conscience n.良心
[3]alphabet n.字母表
3.Solomon\\u0027s Treasure—Ancient lsrael 所羅門的寶藏—古代以色列
Divided Kingdom 分裂的王國
Kingdom of Judah is considered to be in the south of the eastern Mediterranean countries in the lron Age.But,there isn\\u0027t definite answer to Jewish problems.It is generally believed that Jewish history began in 2000 BC,there are ancestor Abraham,his son lsaac and his grandson Jacob.A country-wide famine forced Jacob and his sons,the ancestors of lsrael,twelve tribes moved to Egypt,where their descendants become slaves.Several centuries later,Moses rate people out of Egypt,from slavery to freedom,and ultimately returns to the Land of lsrael.They wander on the Sinai desert for 40 years,where they form a nation,and received the Ten Commandments[1]，including the Law of Moses,their ancestor who founded monotheism begin to take shape.
In 1028 BC,Saul establishes a monarchy；his successor,Davidin unites the tribe and takes its capital in Jerusalem,in 1000 BC.David\\u0027s son Solomon makes the kingdom to become a prosperity[2]commercial power country,and construct lsrael\\u0027s monotheistic religions in Jerusalem Temple.
After Solomon passed away,the country split into Northern and Southern Dynasties：one is the Kingdom of lsrael,its capital is Samaria.The other is Jewish kingdom,its capital is Jerusalem.Historians usually refer to the southern Jewish kingdom as ancient lsrael.Two kingdoms exist for two centuries,ruled by the Jewish kings,and prophets warned the people by social justice and compliance with the law.ln 722 BC,the Assyrians invaded and occupied by the Kingdom of lsrael,its people are forced to exile（called the“lost ten tribes”）.In 586 BC,the Jewish kingdom was conquered by Babylon,the invaders destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem,and most of the Jews exiled to Babylon.
In 539 BC,the Persians conquered the Babylonian empire,after many Jews returned Judah（the Land of lsrael），and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem,the way of life of the Jews in the Land restored.After four centuries,Persians and Jews,who under the rule of the ancient Greeks,enjoyed a large degree of autonomy.As the Serbian dynasty of Syria imposed a series of measures to prohibit the Jewish religion,led to the uprising outbreak,which led by the Maccabees（Hasmonean people）in 168 BC,then established an independent Jewish kingdom which lasted about 80 years and reigned by Jewish kings of Hasmonean dynasty.
猶太王國被認為是於鐵器時代出現在南地中海東部的幾個國家之一。不過，關於猶太人出現的問題還沒有確切的答案。一般認為，猶太人的曆史始於公元前2000年，有始祖亞伯拉罕、其子以撒和其孫雅各。一場遍及全國的饑荒迫使雅各和他的兒子們，即以色列十二個部落的祖先移居埃及，在那裏他們的後代淪為奴隸。幾個世紀之後，摩西率眾人離開埃及，擺脫奴役，奔向自由，最終返回以色列故土。他們在西奈沙漠上流浪了40年，在那裏形成了一個民族，並接受了包括十誡在內的摩西律法，他們的始祖們所創立的一神教從此初具規模。