如何製作木乃伊 - Len Bloch：英語精讀講義

Death and taxes are famously inevitable. 慣用語

眾所周知，死亡和繳稅是不可避免的。

But what about decomposition? 表達脈絡

但是腐爛呢？

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

見過木乃伊的人都知道，

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

古埃及人為了防止遺體腐爛，可說是費盡了心思。

So, how successful were they?

那麼，他們到底有多成功呢？

Living cells constantly renew themselves,

活細胞會不斷地自我更新，

specialized enzymes decompose old structures,

特定的酵素會分解舊的細胞結構，

and the raw materials are used to build new ones.

而這些原料會被用來建立新的結構。

But what happens when someone dies?

但是當人死後會發生什麼事呢？

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

他們的死細胞無法再自我更新，

but the enzymes keep breaking everything down. 片語動詞

但酵素卻在不斷地分解一切。

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

因此，任何想要保存遺體的人都需要搶在這些酵素的前面，

before the tissues began to rot.

在組織開始腐爛之前採取行動。

Neurons die quickly,

神經元死亡得很快，

so brains were a lost cause to ancient Egyptian mummifiers, 慣用語

所以對古埃及的木乃伊製作師來說，大腦是沒辦法保存的，

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

這就是為什麼根據希臘歷史學家希羅多德的記載，

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

他們在製作時，首先用長釘鑿穿頭骨，

mashing up the brain, 片語動詞

把大腦搗碎，

flushing it out the nose,

從鼻腔沖洗出來，

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

然後把樹脂倒進頭骨裡，以防進一步腐爛。

Brains may decay first,

雖說大腦最先腐爛，

but decaying guts are much worse.

但內臟腐爛才是最可怕的。

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

肝臟、胃和腸道中含有消化酵素和細菌，

which, upon death, 用詞

它們在人死後，

start eating the corpse from the inside.

會開始從內部啃食屍體。

So the priests removed the lungs and abdominal organs first.

所以祭司們會先摘除肺部和腹腔器官。

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

要在不破壞心臟的情況下摘除肺部是很困難的，

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

但由於當時人們認為心臟是靈魂的居所，

they treated it with special care.

他們會對心臟進行特別的小心處理。

They placed the visceral organs in jars

他們把內臟放在罐子裡，

filled with a naturally occurring salt called natron.

裡面裝滿了一種叫做泡鹼的天然鹽。

Like any salt, 表達脈絡

和其他鹽類一樣，

natron can prevent decay by killing bacteria

泡鹼可以透過殺死細菌

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

並阻止人體天然消化酵素發揮作用來防止腐爛。

But natron isn't just any salt. 語氣意圖

但泡鹼可不是一般的鹽。

It's mainly a mixture of two alkaline salts,

它主要是兩種鹼性鹽的混合物：

soda ash, and baking soda.

蘇打灰和小蘇打。

Alkaline salts are especially deadly to bacteria,

鹼性鹽對細菌來說尤其致命，

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

它們還能將脂肪膜變成堅硬的皂狀物質，

thereby maintaining the corpse's structure. 表達脈絡

從而保持屍體的結構。

After dealing with the internal organs, 表達脈絡

處理完內臟後，

the priest stuffed the body cavity with sacks of more natron

祭司會在體腔內塞滿更多裝有泡鹼的袋子，

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

並將其清洗乾淨，對皮膚進行消毒。

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

然後，屍體會被放在鋪滿更多泡鹼的床上，

for about 35 days to preserve its outer flesh.

放置大約35天，以保存其外層血肉。

By the time of its removal, 表達脈絡

等到把它取出來時，

the alkaline salts had sucked the fluid from the body

鹼性鹽已經吸乾了屍體內的水分，

and formed hard brown clumps.

並形成了堅硬的棕色結塊。

The corpse wasn't putrid,

這時屍體並沒有腐臭，

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

但氣味也絕對稱不上好聞。

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

因此，祭司會在屍體上澆上樹脂進行密封，

massaged it with a waxy mixture that included cedar oil,

用一種含有雪松油的蠟狀混合物為其按摩，

and then wrapped it in linen.

最後用亞麻布將其包裹起來。

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

最後，他們將木乃伊放入一層套一層的棺材中，

and sometimes even a stone sarcophagus.

有時甚至會放進石棺裡。

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

那麼古埃及人在防止屍體腐爛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，木乃伊絕對算不上是完好無損的人體。

Their brains have been mashed up and flushed out,

他們的大腦被搗碎沖走，

their organs have been removed and salted like salami, 慣用語

器官被摘除，還像做薩拉米香腸一樣被鹽醃製，

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

剩下的一半體重也都被抽乾了。

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

儘管如此，殘留下來的部分保存得異常完好。

Even after thousands of years, 表達脈絡

即使過了幾千年，

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

科學家們依然可以對木乃伊進行驗屍，以確定他們的死因，

and possibly even isolate DNA samples.

甚至還可能分離出DNA樣本。

This has given us new information.

這為我們提供了新的資訊。

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

例如，古埃及的空氣污染似乎是個很嚴重的問題，

probably because of indoor fires used to bake bread. 文法

可能與室內烤麵包生火有關。

Cardiovascular disease was also common, as was tuberculosis. 文法

心血管疾病也很常見，結核病也是如此。

So ancient Egyptians were somewhat successful in evading decay.

所以，古埃及人在防止屍體腐爛方面還是比較成功的。

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

不過，就像死亡一樣，繳稅也是逃不掉的。

When some mummies were transported,

有些木乃伊在運輸時，

they were taxed as salted fish. 文化背景

是被當作鹹魚來課稅的。