如何制作木乃伊 - Len Bloch：英语精读讲义

Death and taxes are famously inevitable. 習語

众所周知，死亡和税收是不可避免的。

But what about decomposition? 表達脈絡

但是腐烂呢？

As anyone who's seen a mummy knows, 表達脈絡

见过木乃伊的人都知道，

ancient Egyptians went to a lot of trouble to evade decomposition. 短語搭配

古埃及人为了防止遗体腐烂，可谓是费尽了心思。

So, how successful were they?

那么，他们到底有多成功呢？

Living cells constantly renew themselves,

活细胞会不断地自我更新，

specialized enzymes decompose old structures,

特定的酶会分解旧的细胞结构，

and the raw materials are used to build new ones.

而这些原料会被用来构建新的结构。

But what happens when someone dies?

但是当人死后会发生什么呢？

Their dead cells are no longer able to renew themselves, 語法

他们的死细胞无法再自我更新，

but the enzymes keep breaking everything down. 短語動詞

但酶却在不断地分解一切。

So anyone looking to preserve a body needed to get ahead of those enzymes 習語

因此，任何想要保存尸体的人都需要抢在这些酶的前面，

before the tissues began to rot.

在组织开始腐烂之前采取行动。

Neurons die quickly,

神经元死亡得很快，

so brains were a lost cause to ancient Egyptian mummifiers, 習語

所以对古埃及的木乃伊制作者来说，大脑是没法保存的，

which is why, according to Greek historian Herodotus, 表達脈絡

这就是为什么根据希腊历史学家希罗多德的记载，

they started the process by hammering a spike into the skull, 語法

他们在制作木乃伊时，首先用长钉凿穿头骨，

mashing up the brain, 短語動詞

把大脑捣碎，

flushing it out the nose,

从鼻腔冲洗出来，

and pouring tree resins into the skull to prevent further decomposition.

然后把树脂倒进头骨里，以防进一步腐烂。

Brains may decay first,

虽说大脑最先腐烂，

but decaying guts are much worse.

但内脏腐烂才是最可怕的。

The liver, stomach, and intestines contain digestive enzymes and bacteria,

肝脏、胃和肠道中含有消化酶和细菌，

which, upon death, 用詞

它们在人死后，

start eating the corpse from the inside.

会开始从内部啃食尸体。

So the priests removed the lungs and abdominal organs first.

所以祭司们会先摘除肺部和腹腔器官。

It was difficult to remove the lungs without damaging the heart,

要在不破坏心脏的情况下摘除肺部是很困难的，

but, because the heart was believed to be the seat of the soul, 講解

但由于当时人们认为心脏是灵魂的居所，

they treated it with special care.

他们会对心脏进行特别的小心处理。

They placed the visceral organs in jars

他们把内脏放在罐子里，

filled with a naturally occurring salt called natron.

里面装满了一种叫做泡碱的天然盐。

Like any salt, 表達脈絡

和其他盐一样，

natron can prevent decay by killing bacteria

泡碱可以通过杀死细菌

and preventing the body's natural digestive enzymes from working. 語法

并阻止人体天然消化酶发挥作用来防止腐烂。

But natron isn't just any salt. 語氣意圖

但泡碱可不是一般的盐。

It's mainly a mixture of two alkaline salts,

它主要是两种碱性盐的混合物：

soda ash, and baking soda.

碳酸钠和碳酸氢钠。

Alkaline salts are especially deadly to bacteria,

碱性盐对细菌来说尤其致命，

and they can turn fatty membranes into a hard, soapy substance, 語法

它们还能将脂肪膜变成坚硬的皂状物质，

thereby maintaining the corpse's structure. 表達脈絡

从而保持尸体的结构。

After dealing with the internal organs, 表達脈絡

处理完内脏后，

the priest stuffed the body cavity with sacks of more natron

祭司会在体腔内塞满更多装有泡碱的袋子，

and washed it clean to disinfect the skin. 短語搭配

并将其清洗干净，对皮肤进行消毒。

Then, the corpse was set in a bed of still more natron 短語搭配

然后，尸体会被放在铺满更多泡碱的床上，

for about 35 days to preserve its outer flesh.

放置大约35天，以保存其外层血肉。

By the time of its removal, 表達脈絡

等到把它取出来时，

the alkaline salts had sucked the fluid from the body

碱性盐已经吸干了尸体内的水分，

and formed hard brown clumps.

并形成了坚硬的棕色结块。

The corpse wasn't putrid,

这时尸体并没有腐臭，

but it didn't exactly smell good either. 語氣意圖

但气味也绝对称不上好闻。

So priests poured tree resin over the body to seal it,

因此，祭司会在尸体上浇上树脂进行密封，

massaged it with a waxy mixture that included cedar oil,

用一种含有雪松油的蜡状混合物为其按摩，

and then wrapped it in linen.

最后用亚麻布将其包裹起来。

Finally, they placed the mummy in a series of nested coffins, 短語搭配

最后，他们将木乃伊放入一层套一层的棺材中，

and sometimes even a stone sarcophagus.

有时甚至会放进石棺里。

So how successful were the ancient Egyptians at evading decay? 語法

那么古埃及人在防止尸体腐烂方面到底有多成功呢？

On one hand, mummies are definitely not intact human bodies. 表達脈絡

一方面，木乃伊绝对算不上是完好无损的人体。

Their brains have been mashed up and flushed out,

他们的大脑被捣碎冲走，

their organs have been removed and salted like salami, 習語

器官被摘除，还像做萨拉米香肠一样被盐腌制，

and about half of their remaining body mass has been drained away. 短語動詞

剩下的一半体重也都被抽干了。

Still, what remains is amazingly well preserved. 表達脈絡

尽管如此，残留下来的部分保存得异常完好。

Even after thousands of years, 表達脈絡

即使过了几千年，

scientists can perform autopsies on mummies to determine their causes of death, 用詞

科学家们依然可以对木乃伊进行尸检，以确定他们的死因，

and possibly even isolate DNA samples.

甚至还可能分离出DNA样本。

This has given us new information.

这为我们提供了新的信息。

For example, it seems that air pollution was a serious problem in ancient Egypt, 語氣意圖

例如，古埃及的空气污染似乎是个很严重的问题，

probably because of indoor fires used to bake bread. 語法

可能与室内烤面包生火有关。

Cardiovascular disease was also common, as was tuberculosis. 語法

心血管疾病也很常见，结核病也是如此。

So ancient Egyptians were somewhat successful in evading decay.

所以，古埃及人在防止尸体腐烂方面还是比较成功的。

Still, like death, taxes are inevitable. 表達脈絡

不过，就像死亡一样，税收也是逃不掉的。

When some mummies were transported,

有些木乃伊在运输时，

they were taxed as salted fish. 文化背景

是被当作咸鱼来征税的。