Let's keep using Siwa as an example.

依旧以锡瓦为例。

Just outside the limits of Siwa, tremendous and imposing sand dunes linger, constantly threatening to advance.

巨大而壮观的沙丘，就徘徊在锡瓦的边界外，时刻威胁着前进。

Siwa has been permanently inhabited since the 10th millenium BCE or for roughly 12 thousand years.

自公元前10世纪，或是约12000年以来，锡瓦一直有人居住。

In fact, in 2007, in the Siwa oasis, an early hominid footprint was discovered fossilized in the rocks.

事实上，2007年在锡瓦的岩石中，发现了一个早期原始人的足迹化石。

What's all about Siwa is that it's located here, completely isolated in the Egyptian portion of the Sahara desert.

外界只知道锡瓦坐落在此，完全隔绝在埃及境内的撒哈拉沙漠中。

In places like Siwa, merchants and traders could rest, resupply and most importantly refill the waterskins.

在锡瓦这样的地方，来往客商可以停下休息，补足物资，最重要的是重新装满水袋。

In fact, most of the Siwa oases lies at roughly 19 metres below sea level.

实际上，锡瓦绿洲大部分低于海平面约19米。

So, the Siwa and other oases are essentially funnels for all water from surrounding areas to flow into.

因此，锡瓦和其它绿洲实为漏斗，周边地区所有的水都会流入那里。

Well, as it turns out, Siwa isn't just a city, but rather an oasis, a fertile patch, and otherwise endlessly barren land.

原来锡瓦不止是一座城，还是一片绿洲一片沃土，在它之外则是无垠的贫瘠之地。

A look at a elevation map shows the Siwa oasis to be right in the middle of a depression, beside the larger Qatar Depression.

地形图显示，锡瓦位于大洼地的正中间，在更大的卡塔尔洼地旁。

Is it: a) McMurdo Station in Antarctica, b) Siwa Oasis in Egypt's Western Desert, or c) the island of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic?

是 A. 南极的麦克默多站，B.埃及西部沙漠的锡瓦绿洲，还是 C. 南大西洋的特里斯坦-达库尼亚群岛呢？

Is it: a) McMurdo Station in Antarctica, b) Siwa Oasis in Egypt's Western Desert, or is it c) the island of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic?

是 A. 南极的麦克默多站，B.埃及西部沙漠的锡瓦绿洲，还是 C. 南亚特兰大的特里斯坦-达库尼亚群岛呢？

The old museum's fanciest and most valuable artefact, a side-blown horn known as a siwa—carved with intricate beauty out of an immense elephant tusk—has been dispatched to Nairobi, Kenya's distant capital, reportedly for security reasons.

旧博物馆最奇特、最有价值的手工艺品， 据报道，出于安全原因，一种被称为 siwa 的侧吹号角——由巨大的象牙雕刻而成， 雕刻精美——已被送往遥远的肯尼亚首都内罗毕。

For desert fans and adventurers, this is the ultimate weird playground, Number twelve Siwa Oasis Sitting in isolation, in the western corner of the Western Desert, Siwa is the tranquil tonic to the hustle of Egypt's cities.

对于沙漠爱好者和冒险家来说，这是最奇异的游乐场，西瓦绿洲十二号 西瓦孤立地坐落在西部沙漠的西角，是埃及城市喧嚣中的宁静滋补品。