圣域重构——《法雍之书》与“消失的‘迷宫’”

Reconstruction of Holy Realm-The Book of the Fayum and“The Lost Labyrinth”

对于古典作家而言,“东方”几乎是一个无可或缺的镜像,而埃及则在相当程度上既是整个东方想象的核心,亦是其重要的异例。在他们笔下,一座“消失的‘迷宫’”便颇为引人注目,甚至一度令古老的金字塔都相形见绌。伴随着19世纪旨在重寻克诺索斯迷宫的克里特考古勃兴,对于这座埃及典范的探索热情亦高涨起来。然而,即使皮特里等埃及学家皆相继宣称在哈瓦拉发现了这座“迷宫”,但可资确证的古埃及文献寥寥无几,在被视为古代埃及“地图”的《法雍之书》中,更似乎是全然不见这一庞大建筑群之踪影。但事实上,“迷宫”恰恰就是物质化了的《法雍之书》,而《法雍之书》也即是文本化乃至“正典化”了的“迷宫”,共同体现出中王国末期古埃及人围绕法雍地区所构建的神圣景观与世界想象,是同一理念的不同载体。由此,神圣王权、法雍地区的索贝克崇拜与整个埃及世界遂得以融为一体,重新创造出一个崭新的、法雍化了的“世界”。在这个世界中,索贝克是统御一切信仰的信仰,不仅在世俗和现实的意义上整合着埃及各处,而且还通过法雍这一载体,将关乎世界的想象首次具象化、实体化、正典化,从而深入到每一个人的内心之中。

For classical writers,“East”is almost an indispensable image,while Egypt is to a considerable extent the core of the entire Eastern imagination and an important exception.In their writings,a“disappearing labyrinth”is quite eye-catching,even making ancient pyramids pale in comparison.With the rise of Crete archaeology in the 19th century aiming at rediscovering the Knossos Labyrinth,enthusiasm for exploring this Egyptian model also surged.However,even though Egyptologists such as Petrie have claimed to have discovered this“labyrinth”in Hawara,there are very few ancient Egyptian documents that can be confirmed.In the Book of the Fayum,which is considered to be the“map”of ancient Egypt,it seems that there is no trace of this massive architectural complex.But in fact,the“labyrinth”is precisely the materialized Book of Fayum,and in turn the Book of Fayum is also a textual and even“canonized”labyrinth,reflecting the sacred landscape and world imagination built by the ancient Egyptians around the Fayum region in the late Middle Kingdom.In fact,they are different carriers of the same concept.As a result,the sacred monarchy,the worship of Sobek in the Fayum region,and the entire Egyptian world were integrated,creating a brand new,Fayumized“world”.In this world,Sobek is the faith that governs all beliefs,integrating various parts of Egypt not only in a secular and practical sense,but also through the carrier of Fayum,the imagination related to the world is first concretized,materialized and canonized,thus penetrating into the heart of everyone.