Day 23 Words and Phrases
1.Assyria /əˋsiriə/
亚述 (亚洲西南部之一古代帝国; 首都尼尼微(Nineveh[`n n~v~; 'niniv~]))Assyriawas a majorMesopotamianEast Semitic-speakingkingdom andempireof theancient Near East.
2.Mesopotamia /mєsəpəˋtєimjə/
源自希腊文“夹于两河之间的”的意思 名词 美索不达米亚 (在亚洲西南部底格里斯河 (Tigris /ˈtaɪɡrɪs/) 与幼发拉底河 (Euphrates /juːˈfreɪtiːz/) 两河下游间的古代一王国,大致与现在伊拉克相同的地区)
Mesopotamian形容词或居民
3.Semite/ˋsi:mait/
可数名词 1 闪族,塞姆族 (现代的犹太人 (Jew) ,阿拉伯人 (Arab) ,古代的巴比伦尼亚人 (Babylonian) ,腓尼基人 (Phoenician) ,亚述人 (Assyrian) 等) 2 (尤指) 犹太人
Semitic/siˋmitik/ 形容词 1 a. 闪族的 b. 闪族语 (系) 的 2 犹太人的 不可数名词 闪族语 (系)(包括希伯来语 (Hebrew) ,阿拉伯语 (Arabic) 等)
Overview map of the Ancient Near East in the 15th century BC (Middle Assyrian period), From wiki
Map showing the extent of Mesopotamia. From wiki
4.Palestine巴勒斯坦（西南亚地区名）
Palestineis a geographic region in Western Asia between theMediterranean Seaand theJordan River.
Green: Boundaries of the Roman provinceSyria Palaestina, where dashed green line shows the boundary between ByzantinePalaestina Prima(laterJund Filastin) andPalaestina Secunda(laterJund al-Urdunn), as well asPalaestina Salutaris(later Jebel et-Tih and the Jifar) Red: Borders ofMandatory PalestineBlue: Borders of thePalestinian territories(West BankandGaza Strip) which are claimed by theState of Palestineas its borders
其中只有黄色区域(Area A and B)为巴勒斯坦实际控制区域
5. barren defiles
a verynarrow valleybetween twomountains
（山中）狭径
6. and perched at times(偶尔) on almost inaccessible crags(峭壁), the difficulties of finding sustenance for their habitants prevented them from rivalling in size the European or American towns of today.
perch in, on, etc.sth
D1: tositon or near theedgeof something
坐在…（的边缘）上；栖息于；停留于
We perched onbarstoolsand had abeer.我们坐在酒吧高凳上，喝了一杯啤酒。
Ablackbirdwas perching on thegate.一只乌鸫停落在大门上。
D 2: [IorT]to be in a highpositionor in apositionnear theedgeof something, or to put something in thisposition
（使）位于高处（或…的边缘）；（使）栖息在高处（或…的边缘）
Thevillageis perched ontopof a highhill.村子坐落在一个高山顶上。
sustenance = food食物
During thisfreezingweather, thefoodput out byhouseholdersis the onlyformof sustenance that thebirdshave.在这种严寒的天气里，住户们放在外面的食物成了鸟儿们唯一的粮食。
rival vt
D: to be as good,clever,beautiful, etc. as someone or somethingelse
可与…相媲美，比得上
Nocomputercan rival ahumanbrainfor/incomplexity.没有任何计算机比得上人脑复杂。
Thebeautyof thecountryis only rivalled by(= is asgreatindegreeas)theviolenceofitspolitics.该国的美丽风光非同寻常，而其国内政治的残暴同样惊世骇俗。