阿勒坡 Aleppo
撰文及考題設計／British Council 英協教育中心 Brian Welter 中譯／陳怡君 （中央社編譯）
One of the world’s oldest cities, Aleppo in modern Syria traces itself back thousands of years. Syria’s largest city before the current civil war began, it differs greatly from the country’s capital, Damascus. During its time it has been the country’s financial and industrial centre.
阿勒坡位於敘利亞，是世上最古老城市之一，歷史可溯及幾千年前；在敘利亞內戰開始前，她也是國內最大都市─和首都大馬士革截然不同─在過去可是金融與工業中心。
Much of its success and stability comes from its location. Not being a port city has given Aleppo some security over the centuries, as an enemy navy could not enter a harbour and attack. Being centrally located, it has always been a trading centre. Another trading centre, the city of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq, connected Aleppo to the east, and with goods coming from Persia, India, and beyond. With Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula to the south, and Turkey to the north, unsurprisingly, Aleppines (people from Aleppo) have been merchants by nature.
地理位置造就阿勒坡的繁榮穩定，幾世紀以來因處內陸，敵人無法經海路發動攻擊，鞏固了城市的安全，加上位於國境中心，使其自古以來一直是貿易樞紐；位於阿勒坡以東的摩蘇爾─今伊拉克
北部貿易大城─可交易來自波斯、印度等地的貨物，往南有埃及、阿拉伯半島，往北則有來自土耳其的貿易活動。毫無意外地，阿勒坡人先天具備經商基因。This business focus has meant that Aleppo has been open to many kinds of people. While under the Turkish Ottoman Empire, Aleppo was famous for its Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities, and traders from many cultures, speaking many languages, met up in the city. Europeans from Italian cities, France, Holland, and Britain had their own areas of the city as well. While Aleppines speak Arabic, due to the influence of Venice, a kind of trader’s Italian has also been spoken in past centuries.
重商文化影響下，阿勒坡迎來不同族裔人口， 在鄂圖曼土耳其帝國統治期間，阿勒坡以擁有基督徒、穆斯林、猶太教社區，以及許多由各地貿易商帶來的不同語言和文化共處一地聞名，來自英、法、荷蘭與義大利各城市的歐洲人各自形成聚落； 阿勒坡人雖使用阿拉伯語，但受威尼斯商人影響，義大利文通行了數百年。
During its history, as in most Arab cities, the souk, or market, was the heart of the city. This was the place where representatives from all these na¬tionalities, religions, and languages met to carry out their business. By 2000, Aleppo’s network of souks had about 6,000 shops, selling everything from spices, to locally-produced soap, to jewelry and silk.
如同其他阿拉伯都市，阿勒坡的市集一直是城市的心臟，來自全世界、不同語言、信仰的人在此齊聚經商。阿勒坡的傳統市集至2000年共有6,000 間店鋪，從香料、當地生產的肥皂到珠寶絲綢，商品應有盡有。
Being business-oriented meant that politics, like religion, played a secondary role in the city. When Damascus rebelled against the Ottomans due to high taxation in the sixteenth century, Aleppo declined, maintaining its loyalty to the authorities until the end of the empire in the early twentieth century.
城市以商業為導向，意味著政治與宗教僅扮演次要角色。16世紀，大馬士革因不滿鄂圖曼土耳其開徵高額稅金而反叛，阿勒坡則選擇效忠至20世紀初帝國瓦解。
One reason Aleppo remained loyal was the high independence the empire granted such cities. Aleppines collected taxes and administered their own local areas and various communities governed their own affairs. Guilds – unions of men working in the same area, such as shoemaking – were locally organised and, reflecting the local diversity, they included members from each religion.
帝國允諾高度自治是阿勒坡持續效忠的原因之一，阿勒坡採地方自治、自行徵稅也有自治社區， 還有由勞工組成的同業公會─如製鞋公會─成員的信仰各自不同，反映在地多元。
Being a crossroads of different cultures and countries, Aleppo became a tourist destination. Its many shops contained all the goods brought to it by caravans of camels: spices from India, coffee from Yemen (drunk in local cafes), locally-produced tobacco and olives. Travellers could go boar and rabbit hunting or play cricket. The poor farmers who lived in the area around Aleppo were famous for their welcoming attitude to strangers.
阿勒坡作為文化樞紐亦是觀光名勝，為數眾多的店鋪銷售有大篷車、駱駝運抵的商品：印度的香料、葉門的咖啡，乃至當地生產的菸草和橄欖；觀光客可前往獵豬、獵兔或鬥蟋蟀，居住在近郊的貧窮農民更以好客聞名。
In addit ion to its commercial activities, Aleppo had a high culture. Many of the wealthy used marble and Italian-styled architecture in their houses. Aleppines’ beautiful f lower gardens, where they also grew fruit such as peaches and grapes, were well-known. Their cooking skills included the well-loved Aleppo kebab, honey-covered sesame cakes, and many dishes decorated with pistachios, including meat and desserts.
除商業活動外，阿勒坡擁有深度文化內涵，許多富賈豪宅使用大理石及義式建築風格，漂亮的花園也很有名，通常種有桃子、葡萄等水果。在地美食則包括頗受歡迎的烤肉串、蜂蜜芝麻蛋糕與佐以開心果的菜式及甜點。
When Syria became independent after World War II, Aleppo, with 340,000 people, continued to be a cultural centre even though Damascus was made the country’s capital city. In 1970 its population was just under one million, and in 2004 it stood at over two million. This population growth came despite many Aleppines leaving for cities such as Buenos Aires, New York, and Beirut. Once overseas, they made a contribution to their new countries without losing their roots. For example, they often brought their food culture with them. 即使大馬士革在二戰結束、敘利亞建國後成為首都，擁有34萬人口的阿勒坡仍發展成文化重鎮─1970年達近100萬人口，至2004年已逾200萬人─縱使許多人移往貝魯特、紐約及布宜諾斯艾利斯等地，其人口依舊持續成長。阿勒坡子弟就算成了為他國奉獻心力的新住民，也常不忘本地將家鄉美食文化帶進異鄉。
Like many cities in the former Turkish Ottoman Empire, such as Istanbul, Alexandria, and Baghdad, Aleppo lost its multicultural characteristics, as people from minority communities left. Aleppo after World War II became more Syrian and Arabic, and less French, Italian, and Jewish, just like Alexandria became more Egyptian and Istanbul more Turkish.
如同伊斯坦堡、亞力山卓與巴格達等舊日帝國大城的命運─伊斯坦堡土耳其化，亞力山卓則更埃及化─阿勒坡因少數族群離去而失去文化多樣性；二戰後阿拉伯、敘利亞人進駐，法國、義大利及猶太族群則逐漸消失。
In recent years, Aleppo, like all of Syria, has fallen on very hard times. One person noted that for the first time ever, soap is no longer produced in the city because of the destruction of the factories. Many of the souks, some of the oldest in the Middle East, have likewise been destroyed due to the civil war. Present-day Aleppo is now faced with what is perhaps its toughest challenge ever. One hopes that the city will once again grace the world with its lively presence.
敘利亞近年處境嚴峻，據指出，因工廠被破壞， 阿勒坡面臨史上首次無法再生產肥皂的情況，許多市集─有些是中東最古老的─亦被內戰摧毀。阿勒坡也許正遭遇史上最嚴厲挑戰，希望有朝一日她能再次以充滿活力的樣貌迎接世人。
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