Before the sun never set on the British Empire, before Genghis Khan swept the steppe,
在日不落帝国升起之前，在成吉思汗横扫大草原之前，
before Rome extended its influence to encircle the Mediterranean Sea, there was ancient Assyria.
在罗马帝国将自己的权力扩展到地中海周边之前，古亚述帝国就已经存在了。
Considered by historians to be the first true empire,
历史学家认为它是第一个真正的帝国，
Assyria's innovations laid the groundwork for every superpower that's followed.
因为亚述的创新为所有以后的超级大国奠定了基础。
At its height, in the 7th century BCE, the Assyrian Empire stretched across modern Iraq, Syria,
在其鼎盛时期的公元前七世纪，亚述帝国已经横跨现在的伊拉克、叙利亚、
Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Turkey, Iran, and Egypt.
黎巴嫩、以色列、部分的土耳其、伊朗、还有埃及。
Its wonders included a vast library and large botanical and zoological park.
它的大型图书馆和动植物园也是古亚述的奇景之一。
But the story of Assyria's rise to dominance began many centuries earlier, in the Late Bronze Age, in a city called Ashur.
不过古亚述帝国崛起的故事开始于很多世纪前，在青铜器世纪的晚期，一个叫阿舒尔的城市。
Ashur was a tin and textiles trading center located along the Tigris River in northern Iraq.
阿舒尔是一个锡器和纺织品的交易点，位于底格里斯河的岸边，在伊拉克北部。
It shared its name with a god thought to be an embodiment of the city and later of the entire empire.
阿舒尔也是一个神的名字，被认为是代表了这个城市；后来，代表了整个帝国。
For the administration-minded Assyrians, politics and religion were closely linked.
对于很有行政头脑的亚述人来说，政治和宗教是密切相关的。
Around 1300 BCE, a high priest named Ashur-uballit I took the title of king
公元前1300年左右，一个名叫阿舒尔·乌巴里特一世的大祭司取得了王位，
and initiated a tradition of military campaigns, effectively transforming Assyria from a city-state to a territorial state.
并开始了战争扩张的传统，把亚述从一个城邦变成了领土国家。
This meant that a single administrative entity oversaw many places, cultures, and peoples.
这意味着单单一个行政体监管了许多地区、文化和民族。
For the next 150 years, Assyria extended its reach and thrived.
接下来的150年里，亚述扩张了领土，发展繁荣。
In the 12th century BCE, a mysterious catastrophe that still bewilders archaeologists
公元前12世纪时，一场至今仍迷惑着考古学家的神秘灾难
caused the Assyrians to lose much of their territory.
使得亚述失去了大部分的领土。
A few hundred years later, however, Assyrian kings began a new round of conquests.
不过几百年后，亚述国王开始了新一轮的扩张。
This time, they honed their administrative system into an empire that would last generations.
这次，他们改善了行政系统，使得他们成为了能够代代延续的帝国。
Assyrians were military innovators and merciless conquerors.
亚述人是军事创新者，也是无情的征服者。
During their conquests, they used siege tactics and cruel punishments for those who opposed them, including impalement and flaying.
在征战时，他们采用了围城战术，并对反抗者施加了残酷的惩罚，包括刺刑和剥皮。
The growth of their empire was due, in part, to their strategy of deporting local populations,
亚述帝国的壮大一部分是由于他们驱逐当地居民的策略，
then shifting them around the empire to fulfill different needs.
将他们驱逐到帝国的其它部分来满足不同需求。
This broke peoples' bonds with their homelands and severed loyalties among local groups.
此举打破了人们与故乡的联系，并切断了地方团体之间的忠诚。
Once the Assyrians conquered an area, they built cities connected by well-maintained royal roads.
当亚述人征服了一个地区，他们会建立城市，并通过维护良好的皇家道路连接在一起。
Often, when a new king came to power, he would build a new capital.
经常，当新国王上任时，他会建立一个新的首都。

With each move, new palaces and temples were erected and lavishly decorated.
每一次迁都时，都会建起金碧辉煌的宫殿和寺庙。
Although kings claimed absolute power,
尽管国王拥有绝对的权力，
we know that an extensive system of courtiers, provincial officials, and scholars influenced affairs.
我们知道亚述也有着一个大规模的、包括了朝臣、地方官员和学者的系统，影响着国家事务。
At least one woman, Sammuramat, ruled the kingdom.
至少有一位女性，萨穆·莱姆特，统治过亚述王国。
Assyrian rulers celebrated their military excursions
亚述统治者庆祝军事征程的方式
by having representations of their exploits carved into the walls of their newly built palaces.
是把代表了掠夺的内容刻到新宫殿的墙上。
But despite the picture of a ruthless war state projected by these records,
虽然这些记录描绘了一个无情的战争国家，
the Assyrian kings were also interested in the cultural traditions of the region,
不过亚述国王们也对不同地区的文化传统有着兴趣，
especially those of Babylonia, a separate state to the south.
特别是巴比伦尼亚，南边的一个独立国家。
Babylonia had been a cultural leader for millennia,
巴比伦尼亚千年以来都是文化的引领者，
stretching back to the beginning of writing at the end of the 4th millennium BCE.
最早可追溯到公元前四千年末期书写的发明。
Assyria saw itself as the inheritor and protector of this tradition.
亚述把自己视为这项传统的继承者和保卫者。
Assyrian rulers supported scholars in specialties ranging from medicine to magic, and the capital cities, like Ninevah,
亚述统治者帮助了各种学者，研究范围从医学到魔法都有，而首都，像是尼尼微，
were home to elaborate parks and gardens that housed plants and animals from around the empire.
有着设计精妙的公园和花园，收藏了帝国各地的动植物。
One of Assyria's final rulers, Ashurbanipal, sent scholars throughout Babylonia to gather up and copy ancient literary works.
亚述末期的统治者之一，亚述巴尼拔，遣派了学者到巴比伦尼亚来收集和复制古文学作品。
Ashurbanipal's library took the form of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform in the languages of Akkadian and Sumerian.
亚述巴尼拔的图书馆用的是粘土制成的板子，刻着阿卡得和苏美尔的楔形文字。
The library was lost during the final sack of Ninevah in 612 BCE.
公元前612年，在最后尼尼微被掠夺时，图书馆遗失了。
But thanks to a 19th century archaeological excavation, many masterpieces of ancient literature,
不过，通过19世纪的考古挖掘，许多古代文学的巨作，
including the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian Creation Epic, survive today.
包括《吉尔伽美什史诗》和《巴比伦创世史诗》，得以留存至今。
After centuries of rule, the Assyrian Empire fell to the Babylonians and Medes between 612 and 609 BCE.
经过了数百年的统治，亚述帝国败于巴比伦尼亚和米底，于公元前612到609年亡国。
Yet the innovations that the Assyrians pioneered live on.
然而亚述人开拓的发明延续了下来。
Their emphasis on constant innovation, efficient administration, and excellent infrastructure
他们强调的不断创新、高效率的行政管理、出色的基础设施
set the standard for every empire that's followed them in the region and across the globe.
为后来在这个地区，乃至全世界的帝国建立了标准。