纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 001木乃伊霍尼杰提（3）

'When he arrived at the Museum in 1835, the hieroglyphic¹ script had only just been deciphered, so the first step forward was to read all the inscriptions² on his coffins⁴, which told us who he was, what his job was, and something about the religious background that he knew.'

“1835年Hornedjitef来到博物馆时，象形文字刚刚破译，所以第一步就是阅读棺椁上记录着他身份、职位以及宗教信仰的文字。”

He was a priest in the Temple of Karnak around 250 BC. Like all Egyptians, he believed that if his body was preserved, he would live beyond death, but before reaching the afterlife, he would have to undertake a hazardous⁵ journey, for which he needed to prepare with the utmost care.

公元前250年左右，霍尼杰提夫(Hornedjitef)是卡纳克(Karnak)神庙的一位牧师。像他的同胞一样，他相信如果尸体保存下来，他将超越死亡，但在转世前，他必须经历一段危机四伏的长途跋涉，因此他小心翼翼地做好了准备工作。

So he took with him charms, amulets⁶ and spells for every eventuality. On the lid of his inner coffin³, he even had painted a map of the heavens stretched out above him as an aid to navigation. Hornedjitef has, in fact, commissioned his own personal firmament⁷ and time-machine. This elaborate coffin will let him travel through both time and space, and all this meticulous⁸ preparation on his part has allowed us to travel in the opposite direction, back to him and to his world.

他随身携带着吉祥物、护身符和咒语以防不测，甚至绘制了一幅蔓延在内棺棺盖上的天体图作为指引。事实上，他已经委托技师制作了自己的时空机器。他精雕细琢的棺材将引领他穿越时空，而他一丝不苟的准备将带领我们追溯时光，故地重游。

'In the last 20 years, there have been huge steps forward in ways of gathering⁹ information. So we're now looking at the condition of the bodies non-invasively, just by scanning them. We can examine the teeth in great detail, look at the wear and the dental disease that they suffered from, we can look at the bones, we can see now that Hornedjitef had arthritis¹⁰ in his back which must have been very painful for him.' (John Taylor)

“近20年，搜集信息的技巧突飞猛进。现在我们仅利用扫描这种平和的方式就可以观察尸体的状况。我们能够非常细致地检查牙齿的磨损情况和疾病，我们还能看到骨骼。我们发现霍尼杰提夫(Hornedjitef)患有脊椎疾病，他当时一定觉得很疼。”——约翰·泰勒(John Taylor)

But the scientific advances of the last couple of decades have allowed us to find out about a great deal more than Hornedjitef's bad back. If the words on his coffin tell us about his place in society and what that society believed about life after death, the new scientific techniques let us go one stage further - to analyse the materials with which mummies and coffins were made, and to see how Egypt was connected to the world round about it.

然而，近几十年的科学进展允许我们发现比霍尼杰提夫(Hornedjitef)的脊椎疾病更有价值的东西。棺材上的文字告诉我们他的社会地位和当时的社会信仰，新科技则使我们能进一步分析制作木乃伊和棺材的原材料以及埃及和周边世界的联系。

'But we can also look at substances that are being used in mummification, we can test them, we can look at the chemical composition of them to find out what materials were being used - maybe now we can look at where they were coming from. We can compare these chemical make-ups with substances found in different parts of the Mediterranean¹¹, and begin to reconstruct the trading networks that supplied these things to Egypt.

“我们还可以着眼于制作木乃伊所使用的化学物质，我们可以通过检测化学成分确定原料种类，发现人们采用了哪些种原料，也许现在我们还可以着眼于原料产地。我们可以拿这些化学成分与地中海不同区域发现的物质做对比，重新构建向埃及提供这些物资的贸易网络。

Some of the mummies have bitumen¹² -the black tarry substance -on the surface and, by analysing the composition, it's possible to track it to its source - some of it we know came from the Dead Sea. So, all of this now is filling in these gaps which the texts don't really tell us about.' (John Taylor)

有些木乃伊表面含有沥青，即一种黑色的柏油物质，我们可以通过化学成分分析追溯到它的发源地——我们已经知道有些来自死海地区。因此，这些填补了文字信息的空白。”——约翰·泰勒(John Taylor)

And of course it's not just Hornedjitef's mummy case that's telling us more and more. All the objects we'll be looking at in this series are releasing new information as scholars find new ways of examining them.

当然，向我们泄露更多信息的不止霍尼杰提夫(Hornedjitef)木乃伊，我们在这个系列中探讨的所有展品，都在随着学者们检测方法的更新，向我们揭示出新的信息。

Most of the material that Hornedjitef had with him in his coffin was designed to guide him through the great journey to the afterlife, with star-maps and spells to help him overcome all foreseeable difficulties. The one thing his star-map certainly did not predict, was that he might ultimately wind up at the British Museum; let's face it, Bloomsbury might have been a bit of a disappointment to him!

霍尼杰提夫(Hornedjitef)携带在棺材中的大多数物品都是用来在漫长旅程中指引他到达来世的，星图和咒语将帮助他克服所有可预见的劫难。然而，他的星图并未预测出的是，他也许会在大英博物馆终了此生。让我们勇敢面对这个事实吧，虽然布鲁姆伯利(Bloomsbury)难免对他有些失望！

1 hieroglyphic   

n.象形文字

参考例句：

• For centuries hieroglyphic word pictures painted on Egyptian ruins were a mystery.几世纪以来，刻划在埃及废墟中的象形文字一直是个谜。
• Dongba is an ancient hieroglyphic language.东巴文是中国一种古老的象形文字。

2 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。

3 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

4 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

5 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

6 amulets   

n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Amulets,\"guards,\" as they are popularly called, intended to ward off evil spirits. 护身符――或者象他们普遍的叫法：“警卫”用来抵御妖魔鬼怪。 来自辞典例句
• However, all oval amulets in a single game are the same. 当然，所有的魔法用品也有类似的情形。 来自互联网

7 firmament   

n.苍穹；最高层

参考例句：

• There are no stars in the firmament.天空没有一颗星星。
• He was rich,and a rising star in the political firmament.他十分富有，并且是政治高层一颗冉冉升起的新星。

8 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

11 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

12 bitumen   

n.沥青

参考例句：

• Bitumen paper can be burnt to gain energy.沥青纸可以焚烧以获得能量。
• In fact,a speciality crude is suitable only for bitumen production.事实上，这种特性的原油只适宜于生产沥青。