A recent study about the smell of Egyptian mummies reached some surprising findings. The ancient bodies did not smell bad, the researchers found. Instead, they say, the remains mostly smelled good. 

最近关于埃及木乃伊气味的研究提出了一些令人惊讶的发现。 研究人员发现，古老的身体闻起来并不闻。 他们说，相反，遗体大部分闻起来很香。 

Cecilia Bembibre is director of research at University College London's Institute for Sustainable Heritage. “In films and books, terrible things happen to those who smell mummified bodies,” she said. “We were surprised at the pleasantness of them." 

Cecilia Bembibre是伦敦大学可持续遗产研究所的研究主任。 她说：“在电影和书籍中，那些闻到木乃伊的身体的人会发生可怕的事情。” “我们对他们的愉悦感到惊讶。” 

The researchers reported the leading descriptions of the smells as “woody,” “spicy” and “sweet.” They also reported a floral or flowery smell. That smell could be from pine and juniper resins used in mummification; a process designed to protect the body from decay. 

研究人员报告了气味的主要描述为“木质”，“辣”和“甜”。 他们还报告了花香或花香的气味。 这种气味可能来自用于木乃伊化的松树和杜松树脂。 旨在保护身体免受衰减的过程。

The study appeared recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. It used both chemical examinations and several human smellers to study nine mummies. The mummies, some around 5,000 years old, had been housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. 

该研究最近发表在《美国化学学会杂志》上。 它使用化学检查和几种人气味来研究九个木乃伊。 木乃伊大约有5，000年的历史，已在开罗的埃及博物馆住所。

Bembibre, one of the report’s writers, said the researchers wanted to study the smell of mummies because it has long been a subject of interest for the public and researchers alike. 

该报告的作家之一Bembibre说，研究人员想研究木乃伊的气味，因为它长期以来一直是公众和研究人员感兴趣的主题。 

She added that even fiction writers have written pages of work on the subject — for good reason. 

她补充说，即使是小说作家也已经写了有关该主题的作品 - 这是有充分理由的。

Scent, or smell, was an important consideration in the mummification process. This process used oils and plant-based materials to protect the body and its spirit for the afterlife. Mummification was largely used for powerful people such as pharaohs and other leaders. 

气味或气味是木乃伊化过程中的重要考虑因素。 该过程使用油和植物性材料来保护人体及其来世的精神。 木乃伊化主要用于法老王和其他领导人等强大的人。 

Pleasant smells were linked with purity and gods. Bad smells were signs of corruption and decay. 

宜人的气味与纯洁和神灵有关。 气味不佳是腐败和衰败的迹象。 

Researchers did not want to directly measure the mummies, because doing so might be damaging. Instead, researchers were able to take measurements that did not involve touching the mummies. Researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia were able to measure smells, pesticides, and other effects due to mold, bacteria or microorganisms. 

研究人员不想直接测量木乃伊，因为这样做可能会造成破坏。 取而代之的是，研究人员能够进行不涉及接触木乃伊的测量值。 来自UCL和斯洛文尼亚卢布尔雅那大学的研究人员能够测量由于霉菌，细菌或微生物而引起的气味，农药和其他影响。

Using technical instruments to measure air molecules released from sarcophagi was very important, said Matija Strlič, a chemistry professor at the University of Ljubljana. 

卢布尔雅那大学的化学教授MatijaStrlič表示，使用技术仪器测量从石棺释放的空气分子非常重要。 

"It tells us potentially what social class a mummy was from and therefore reveals a lot of information about the mummified body...." he said. “We believe that this approach is potentially of huge interest to other types of museum collections.” 

他说：“它可能告诉我们A Mummy来自哪些社会阶层，因此揭示了有关木乃伊身体的大量信息。” “我们认为，这种方法可能对其他类型的博物馆收藏具有巨大的兴趣。”

Barbara Huber of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany was not involved in the study. Huber said the findings provide important data on compounds that could preserve or damage mummified remains. The information could be used to better protect the ancient bodies for future generations.

德国马克斯·普朗克（Max Planck）地球人类学研究所的芭芭拉·胡伯（Barbara Huber）没有参与这项研究。 休伯说，这些发现提供了有关可以保留或损害木乃伊遗骸的化合物的重要数据。 该信息可用于更好地保护不久的世代的古代机构。

Huber said that over thousands of years, differing conditions have changed the scents of the mummies in a major way. 

休伯说，在数千年的时间里，不同的条件以主要方式改变了木乃伊的气味。 

Huber wrote a study two years ago that examined a jar that had contained mummified organs of a woman. The goal was to identify the material used to preserve the organs and what that would show about ancient trade paths. 

休伯（Huber）两年前撰写了一项研究，该研究检查了一个罐子，其中包含一个女人的木乃伊器官。 目的是确定用于保存器官的材料以及有关古代贸易道路的内容。 

Researchers of the current study hope to do something similar. They want to use their findings to develop “smellscapes” to recreate the scents they discovered. They also want to change the experience for future museumgoers. 

当前研究的研究人员希望做类似的事情。 他们想利用自己的发现来开发“气味景观”来重现他们发现的气味。 他们还想改变未来博物馆的经验。 

Bembibre said museums generally ask visitors to experience everything with their eyes. She added that seeing mummies through “a glass case reduces the experience because we don’t get to smell them.” 

Bembibre说，博物馆通常要求游客用眼睛体验一切。 她补充说，通过“玻璃盒子降低了这种体验，因为我们没有闻到它们的气味”。 

Smelling the scents of mummification would improve the museum visitors’ experiences, she suggested, as smell is one of the ways that people understand the world.

 她建议，闻到木乃伊化的气味会改善博物馆游客的经历，因为气味是人们了解世界的一种方式。