BBC地平线.七千万动物木乃伊.古埃及的暗黑秘密（2015）

how to ensure they had a steady supply of animals
以满足来访朝圣者的需求量
to meet the demand of visiting pilgrims.
二十世纪六十年代♥考♥古学家在塞加拉
Lost for over 2,000 years, this ibis bird catacomb at Saqqara
再次发现了这座失落两千年的圣鹮地下墓穴
was rediscovered by archaeologists in the 1960s.
墓穴已被密封二十年
It's been sealed for 20 years.
现在分子生物学家
Now, molecular biologist
莎莉·瓦塞夫将再次进入墓穴
Sally Wasef is going to re-enter the tomb.
这座地下墓穴
Over two million mummified ibis birds
埋葬了两百多万个圣鹮木乃伊
are buried in this catacomb.
莎莉希望通过对比DNA弄清楚
Sally is hoping to understand how they were supplied for mummification
制♥作♥木乃伊的圣鹮供给渠道是什么
by comparing samples of their DNA.
通常地下墓穴中的DNA
The DNA is usually not in a very good condition
保存状况不是很好
because inside a catacomb,
温度和湿度都太高
it's really hot and humid
这加速了DNA的降解
and that helps degradation to be faster for the DNA.
但古埃及人通过木乃伊化
But Ancient Egyptians helped us by mummifying the birds
莎莉·瓦塞夫博士
澳大利亚 格里菲斯大学
减缓了降解过程
which slowed the degradation process,
也保存下来一些DNA
so it helped to preserve some of the DNA.
不同于十九世纪的木乃伊收藏者
Unlike the mummy collectors of the 19th century,
莎莉严格按照规定选取她能带走的骨头标本
Sally works to strict rules on which bones she can take away as samples.
像这样的木乃伊 我不能打开或取样本
Such a mummy, I'm not allowed to open it or take samples from
因为它完好无损地保存在罐子里
because it's fully wrapped and inside the jar.
所以我通常在破损的木乃伊上取样
So I usually sample from those broken stuff
能看到骨头松散的那种
where you can see the bones loose,
像这样的骨头就很不错
and such a bone is nice.
还存有皮肤 羽毛 都很完整
Still have the skin intact, the feathers and everything
这就说明极有可能
which give me more indications that most likely I'll be
我会在这根骨头上提取到高质量的DNA
ending up with good DNA quality from this bone.
回到实验室后
Back in the lab,
莎莉将会用这些骨头中残存的碎片
Sally will be able to reconstruct the DNA of this mummified bird
试着重建这些圣鹮木乃伊的DNA
from the fragment still contained in its bones.
她会对比墓穴中其它圣鹮的DNA
She can then compare it to other birds in the catacomb
来判断它们的亲属关系
to determine how closely they were related to each other.
一旦我们的DNA图谱构建完成
Once we have that DNA picture completed,
我们将会观察它们之间的差异
what we do is that we look at how those are different from each other.
它们有亲属关系吗
Are they close together?
如果在大量圣鹮中都找到了相似DNA
If we find a lot of similarity between a large number of birds,
那就能认为这些圣鹮是一起长大的
we can say, "OK, those birds were raised together,
它们是被养殖的 如果说存在大量不同基因
"They were farmed," Or if you have too many variations,
那它们就是从野外捕捉来的
actually they are caught from the wild
或是从古埃及外迁徙来的
or migrating from outside Egypt.
莎莉的研究仍在进行
Sally's research is ongoing.
但到目前为止 研究结果表明
But so far, results have suggested there is a low genetic variance
塞加拉的圣鹮木乃伊基因差异性并不大
between the mummified ibis birds at Saqqara.
一旦证实 就说明古埃及人曾养殖圣鹮
If proven, it's evidence the birds were being farmed
来满足日益增高的动物木乃伊需求量
to satisfy the increasing demand for animal mummies.
七百米外的塞加拉狗地下墓穴中
700 metres away in Saqqara's dog catacomb,
八百多万个狗木乃伊
the remains of eight million dog mummies
说明在某个地方
suggest a mass breeding programme for dogs
有对狗和圣鹮进行大型养殖的项目
as well as ibis birds must have been in place.
伊克拉姆教授一直在研究堆积的骸骨
Professor Ikram has been studying the piles of bones.
她发现了这条动物木乃伊生产线
She has found more evidence of how this animal production line
运作方法的更多证据
could have worked.
从下颌骨中可以分辨出
One of the things we found is that there are really diverse ages
这些动物的年龄参差不齐
and you can tell this from the jawbones,
比如这个 小小的爪子
because you get these, sort of, teeny-weeny little jaws
还有这种大爪子 他们会在小狗
and then you have huge things. And then they would have taken
还很幼小时就带走它们
the puppies away when they were, well, very young,
要么溺死 要么就只是让它们
either drowned them or just removed them
失去母亲的照顾 这样它们很快就会没命
from their mother's care so they would have died quite quickly
然后就可以做成木乃伊了
and could have been mummified.
当然 它们的母亲会再次下崽
And then, of course, their mothers would have whelped again
所以它们被迫繁殖
and so you would have forced the breeding
并不是正常的一年一两次而是一年两三次
to, instead of once or twice a year, to twice or three times a year,
如此保持了动物农场的运作
which kept this puppy farm going
以及造就了这里的八百万个狗木乃伊
and gave us the eight million dogs that we have here.
从这些骨头上能看出更多东西
Now these bones can reveal more.
有证据表明在塞加拉这些狗被如何对待
There is evidence of how the dogs at Saqqara were treated.
有很多生病动物的证据
We have evidence for a lot of sick animals,
比如像这样的骨头 上面有洞
for example something like this where there are holes.
能看到骨头上有增生
You can see where the bone has grown over,
所以这可能是一只前腿跛行的残疾动物
so this has been a diseased animal that would have been limping on its foreleg
它死得很早
and it died when it was quite young.
这是另一只受到感染的动物
Here's another one which has some sort of horrible growth
它的成长过程一定很糟糕
coming out from an infection.
这种极端疾病常见于动物园中
Often you see this kind of extreme disease on zoo animals,
动物生活在有限空间中
where they have been kept in confined spaces, so this is why
所以我们认为这些狗极有可能是被圈养的
we think that quite possibly the dogs were kept in enclosures,
一旦被感染 就不能自♥由♥活动
they weren't always allowed to move freely if they got infected
因为照看它们的人知道
because the people who were looking after them
它们活不长了
knew that they'd be dead soon enough.
更不会花心思照顾它们
They didn't really bother to take care of them.
最终被葬在狗地下墓穴中的多数狗
It's very likely that many of the dogs that ultimately
保罗·尼科尔森博士 卡迪夫大学
很可能都是在古孟斐斯城附近
find their way into the dog catacomb would have been bred
被养殖大的
in and around ancient Memphis,
可能是在不断繁殖的动物农场中降生
probably in a series of puppy farms breeding
或许每次同时有几十只动物一起被制成木乃伊
perhaps dozens of animals at a time for mummification.
从二十一世纪的视角来看
The whole question of the killing of animals
杀害动物的行为十分难以接受
is quite a difficult one,
特别是在感情上接受不了
quite an emotive one for us from a 21st century perspective.
然而 我们要知道的是
However, what we have to bear in mind is that
他们做的是在帮助动物获得永生
what they were doing was providing for the eternity of that animal,
是给神灵的代表一个体面的葬礼
providing a suitable burial for a representative of a God.
所以他们的举动是神圣的
So what they were doing was a sacred act.
在公元前五世纪末
By the end of the fifth century BC,
这些私人宗教仪式已经成为全国性的痴迷
these private rituals had grown into a national obsession.
全国上下
Animals were being bred,
动物们被养殖 被杀害 再被做成木乃伊
killed and mummified at sites right across the country,
有成千上万的工人并产生了巨额利润
employing thousands of workers and generating huge profits.
两百年之后
And then, 200 years later,
另一次政♥治♥剧变震动了古埃及
another huge political upheaval shook Ancient Egypt -
执政者从波斯人变为希腊人
the ruling Persians were replaced by Greeks
他们在动物狂热崇拜上倾注钱财
who poured money into animal cults.
使其发展成了相当庞大的产业
It became a massive, massive growth industry,
比以往有过之而无不及
even more than before.
他们在动物木乃伊崇拜上的花费
They were spending the equivalent
相当于今天的上百万资金
of millions today on maintaining cults
对于古埃及人来说
that were for the Egyptians
文化的延续是十分重要的
crucial to the continuation of this culture.
动物木乃伊成为一种国家控制的工具
Animal mummification had become a tool of state control.
宗教具有强大的凝聚力
Religion is a very unifying force
而对政♥治♥来说 凝聚力就是政♥治♥家的梦想
and politically... It's every politician's dream.
用由你投资和维持的宗教
If you have got this idea of mass control over millions of people
来控制上百万人♥民♥
through a form of religion you ultimately fund and sustain,
这主意很妙 因为你控制住了他们
it's brilliant, because you have control of those people.
几十座新建寺庙 鼓励更多的朝圣者
Dozens of new temples were built, encouraging more and more
来访像塞加拉一样的圣城 购买♥♥动物木乃伊
pilgrims to visit sites like Saqqara and purchase animal mummies.
但这项生机勃勃的产业开始出现裂缝
But cracks were beginning to appear in the burgeoning industry.
似乎木乃伊制♥作♥者跟不上供应需求
It seems the embalmers had problems keeping up with the demand.
-这是棉纸 -真可爱 好可爱
-There's the tissue paper. Oh! - Aw, that's cute. Lovely.
-它的面部真精致 -精致的脸和耳朵
- He's got a nice face. - Nice face, nice ears.
-把它送进去吧 -好
- Shall we move him in, then? - OK.
这个漂亮猫木乃伊
It's thought this beautiful cat mummy
被埋葬在位于埃及中部的城市贝尼·哈桑
was buried at a site called Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt.
但这只木乃伊看起来和实际并不一样
But this mummy is not all it seems to be.
它有精致模范的面部 上面有一些亚麻布卷
It's got the nice modelled face with a little roll of linen
做成鼻子和两只眼睛
for the nose and then two eyes.
整体是圆柱形 这是十分典型的猫木乃伊
It's very cylindrical, it's quite typical of a cat mummy.
看看里面是什么样子
Have a look what's inside.