2022年11月13日 VOA慢速英語：研究人員可能在以色列找到了最古老的字母句子

 

Israeli researchers have found an ancient comb that has what is likely the oldest known full sentence written in Canaanite. The discovery was described in a study published recently in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology.
以色列研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了一把古老的梳子，上面可能是已知最古老的迦南語完整句子。最近發(fā)表在《耶路撒冷考古學雜志》上的一項研究對這一發(fā)現(xiàn)進行了描述。

The writing could be 3,700 years old. It tells people to comb their hair and beards to remove small insects known as lice. The sentence contains 17 letters that read: "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard."
這篇文章可能有 3700 年的歷史。它告訴人們梳理頭發(fā)和胡須以去除被稱為虱子的小昆蟲。這句話包含 17 個字母，上面寫著：“愿這根獠牙根除頭發(fā)和胡須上的虱子。”
 
Experts say the discovery gives information about some of the earliest use of the Canaanite alphabet, invented around 3,800 years ago. The Canaanite alphabet was the base for later alphabetic systems, such as Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Cyrillic.
專家說，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)提供了有關迦南字母最早使用的信息，該字母發(fā)明于大約 3800 年前。迦南字母是后來的字母系統(tǒng)的基礎，例如希伯來語、希臘語、拉丁語和西里爾語。

The subject of the writing suggests that people had trouble with lice in everyday life at the time. Researchers said they have even found microscopic evidence of head lice on the comb.
文字的主題表明當時人們在日常生活中遇到虱子問題。研究人員說，他們甚至在梳子上發(fā)現(xiàn)了頭虱的微觀證據(jù)。
 
The comb was first found in 2016 in southern Israel. But it was only late last year when a professor at Israel's Hebrew University noticed the tiny words written on it.
這把梳子于 2016 年首次在以色列南部被發(fā)現(xiàn)。但直到去年年底，以色列希伯來大學的一位教授才注意到上面寫著的小字。

The lead researcher, Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University, spoke to The Associated Press. He said that while many ancient objects with Canaanite writing have been found over the years, the comb has the first complete sentence to be discovered.
首席研究員、希伯來大學的約瑟夫·加芬克爾 (Yosef Garfinkel) 接受了美聯(lián)社的采訪。他說，雖然這些年來發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多帶有迦南文字的古代物品，但梳子是第一個完整的句子被發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Garfinkel said earlier findings contained just a few letters, maybe a word here and there. Such short pieces of writing did not leave much room for further research on the lives of the Canaanites. "We didn't have enough material," he said.
加芬克爾說，早期的發(fā)現(xiàn)只包含幾個字母，這里可能是一個詞在那里。如此簡短的文章并沒有為進一步研究迦南人的生活留下太多空間。 “我們沒有足夠的材料，”他說。
 
The find opens up the debate about the ancient time period, Garfinkel added. He said it was important that the sentence was found on an ivory comb in the ancient city's palace and temple area. It also was notable that the writing spoke of a beard. Garfinkel said it could suggest that only wealthy men were able to read and write.
加芬克爾補充說，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)開啟了關于古代時期的爭論。他說，重要的是，這句話是在古城宮殿和寺廟區(qū)的象牙梳上發(fā)現(xiàn)的。同樣值得注意的是，文字提到了胡須。加芬克爾說，這可能表明只有富有的人才能讀寫。

"It is a very human text," Garfinkel said. "It shows us that people didn't really change, and lice didn't really change."
“這是一部非常人性化的文字，”加芬克爾說。 “它告訴我們，人并沒有真正改變，虱子也沒有真正改變。”
 
Canaanites spoke an ancient Semitic language that is related to modern Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic. The Canaanites lived in the lands along the eastern Mediterranean. They are believed to have developed the first known alphabetic system of writing.
迦南人說一種古老的閃米特語，與現(xiàn)代希伯來語、阿拉伯語和亞拉姆語有關。迦南人居住在地中海東部的土地上。據(jù)信，他們開發(fā)了第一個已知的字母書寫系統(tǒng)。

The complete sentence further suggests that Canaanites stood out among early civilizations in their use of the written word. "It shows that even in the most ancient phase there were full sentences" Garfinkel added.
完整的句子進一步表明，迦南人在使用書面文字方面在早期文明中脫穎而出。 “這表明即使在最古老的階段也有完整的句子”加芬克爾補充道。
 
He said experts dated the script to 3,700 years ago by comparing it to the ancient Canaanite alphabet found earlier in Egypt's Sinai Desert. Such writing dates back between 3,900 and 3,700 years.
他說，專家通過將其與較早在埃及西奈沙漠發(fā)現(xiàn)的古代迦南字母進行比較，確定了該腳本的日期為 3700 年前。這樣的文字可以追溯到 3,900 到 3,700 年之間。

But, the study noted, carbon dating of the comb failed to show its exact age.
但是，研究指出，梳子的碳測年未能顯示其確切年齡。
 
Austrian archaeologist Felix Höflmayer, an expert on the period who was not part of the publication, said the method of dating was not good enough.
奧地利考古學家 Felix Höflmayer 是該時期的一位專家，但并未參與該出版物，他說測定年代的方法還不夠好。

"There are just not enough securely dated early alphabetic inscriptions currently known," he said. But, he added the discovery was important.
“目前已知的早期字母銘文的日期還不夠可靠， “ 他說。但是，他補充說，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)很重要。
 
"Seventeen letters preserved on a single object is definitely remarkable," Höflmayer said.
“在一個物體上保存了 17 個字母絕對是了不起的，”Höflmayer 說。