The Honey That Outlasted Empires

ピラミッドで見つかった3000年前の蜂蜜が、今でも食べられる理由。

本文を読んでから訳を確認するのがおすすめ。

In the 1920s, archaeologists opened a sealed jar in the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh and found honey that was still good to eat. The honey was about three thousand years old. This was not a mistake or a trick. Honey, it turns out, is one of the few foods that almost never spoils. Three things make this possible. First, honey is extremely low in water — bees fan their wings to evaporate the moisture from nectar, and the final product is too dry for most bacteria to survive in. Second, honey is acidic, with a pH around four, which kills many microbes outright. Third, bees add an enzyme that produces small amounts of hydrogen peroxide as the honey ages, slowly disinfecting it from within. Together these defenses are so effective that honey was used as a wound dressing in ancient Egypt, in the trenches of the First World War, and is still studied today as a treatment for stubborn infections. A jar in your kitchen is a small museum: the same chemistry that protected pharaohs is sitting in your tea this morning.

重要表現と解説

この記事で押さえたい表現。タップで単語帳に追加でき、復習時に出てきます。

Honey, it turns out, is one of the few foods that almost never spoils.表現
実は蜂蜜は、ほぼ絶対に腐らない数少ない食品の1つだ。
〈it turns out〉= 『実は』、コンマで挿入。〈one of the few X that ...〉= 『〜な数少ない X の1つ』。
too dry for most bacteria to survive in文法
ほとんどの細菌が生き残るには乾燥しすぎている
〈too + 形容詞 + for + 人/物 + to + 動詞〉= 『〜には…すぎる』。
with a pH around four, which kills many microbes outright文法
pH は4前後、これは多くの微生物を直接殺す
〈with + 名詞句〉で随伴情報。〈, which〉= 非制限関係詞。〈outright〉= 『直接、即座に』。
A jar in your kitchen is a small museum表現
あなたの台所にある一瓶は、小さな博物館だ
メタファー (隠喩)。エッセイの締めで日常を歴史に繋ぐ詩的構造。

内容チェック

本文の内容を思い出してから答え合わせ。細部まで読めたか確認しましょう。

What did archaeologists find in an Egyptian tomb in the 1920s?
What three things stop honey from spoiling?
How has honey been used besides as a food?

次: How Paper Saved Itself