《中英對照讀新聞》Golden dagger from 3,000 BC found in Thracian tomb 色雷斯人的墓中發現西元前3000年的金匕首

◎胡立宗

A golden dagger dating to 3,000 BC, plus 500 golden ornaments, have been found in a Thracian tomb in central Bulgaria, an archaeologist said.

一位考古學家說，一把西元前3,000年的金匕首以及500件金質飾品，在保加利亞中部一個色雷斯古墓中被發現。

"It's a really sensational discovery," Bozhidar Dimitrov, head of the Bulgarian national museum, said.

「這真是個轟動的發現，」保加利亞國家博物館館長波茲希達．迪米托夫說。

"No item of this type was found even in the legendary city of Troy," Dimitrov noted, referring to ruins in Turkey widely regarded as the site of one of the leading cities of antiquity.

「就算是傳奇城市特洛伊也沒有發現類似物品，」迪米托夫表示，意指土耳其境內廣被認為是遠古最繁盛的一個城市的廢墟（即特洛伊）。

He said the 16-cm dagger had been dated to 3,000 BC, was in perfect condition and is extremely sharp, adding that "the dagger most probably belonged to a Thracian ruler or to a priest."

他說，這把16公分長的匕首年代可追溯到西元前3,000 年，現在狀況還很完美、非常鋒利。他並且說，「這把匕首很可能屬於一名色雷斯統治者或教士所有。」

The dagger was made of an alloy of gold and platinum that, unlike pure precious metal, allowed for a high level of rigidity. Archeologists initially believed that alloys were invented at least 1,000 years later in time.

這把匕首是由黃金和白金熔鑄而成，不像一般只用單一貴金屬（的物品），其硬度更高。考古學家原本以為人類要到1000年後才發明合金。

新聞辭典

Thracian：色雷斯人。從西元前4,000年到西元45年間，居住在現今保加利亞、羅馬尼亞、希臘北部及土耳其（歐洲部分）的民族。

antiquity：名詞，古代，古代文物。

rigidity︰名詞，堅硬，剛直；形容詞為rigid，除了堅硬之外，也可引申為僵硬、不自然，如︰He went rigid with panic, not knowing what went wrong.（他嚇呆了，不知出了什麼差錯。）