How to make a mummy - Len Bloch

Kako napraviti mumiju - Len Blok (Len Bloch)

Prevodilac: Tijana Mihajlović Lektor: Mile Živković

Death and taxes are famously inevitable, but what about decomposition?

Poznato je da se smrt i porez ne mogu izbeći,

ali šta je sa raspadanjem?

As anyone who's seen a mummy knows,

Kao što svako ko je video mumiju zna,

ancient Egyptians went to a lot of trouble to evade decomposition.

drevni Egipćani su prolazili kroz puno muka da bi izbegli raspadanje.

So, how successful were they?

Pa, koliko su uspešni bili u tome?

Living cells constantly renew themselves.

Žive ćelije se konstantno obnavljaju.

Specialized enzymes decompose old structures,

Specijalizovani enzimi razaraju stare strukture,

and the raw materials are used to build new ones.

a sirovi materijali se koriste da izgrade nove.

But what happens when someone dies?

Ali, šta se dešava sa nekim ko umre?

Their dead cells are no longer able to renew themselves,

Njihove mrtve ćelije više ne mogu da se obnove,

but the enzymes keep breaking everything down.

ali enzimi nastavljaju da ruše sve.

So anyone looking to preserve a body

Tako je bilo ko sa željom da sačuva telo

needed to get ahead of those enzymes before the tissues began to rot.

trebalo da požuri pre enzima i pre nego što tkiva počnu da trule.

Neurons die quickly,

Neuroni umiru brzo,

so brains were a lost cause to Ancient Egyptian mummifiers,

pa su mozgovi bili unapred izgubljeni za drevne egipatske mumifikatore,

which is why, according to Greek historian Herodotus,

zbog čega su, prema grčkom istoričaru Herodotu,

they started the process by hammering a spike into the skull,

započinjali proces zakucavanjem šiljka u lobanju,

mashing up the brain, flushing it out the nose

zatim su gnječili mozak, ispuštali ga da iscuri kroz nos

and pouring tree resins into the skull to prevent further decomposition.

i sipali smolu drveta u lobanju da spreče dalje raspadanje.

Brains may decay first, but decaying guts are much worse.

Možda se mozgovi raspadnu prvi, ali utroba koja se raspada je mnogo gora.

The liver, stomach and intestines contain digestive enzymes and bacteria,

Jetra, stomak i creva sadrže digestivne enzime i bakterije

which, upon death, start eating the corpse from the inside.

koje posle smrti počinju da izjedaju leš iznutra.

So the priests removed the lungs and abdominal organs first.

Tako su sveštenici prvo uklanjali pluća i abdominalne organe.

It was difficult to remove the lungs without damaging the heart,

Bilo je teško ukloniti pluća bez oštećivanja srca,

but because the heart was believed to be the seat of the soul,

ali pošto se za srce verovalo da je sedište duše,

they treated it with special care.

ophodili su se prema njemu sa velikom pažnjom.

They placed the visceral organs in jars

Stavljali su visceralne organe u tegle

filled with a naturally occurring salt called natron.

koje su bile napunjene prirodnom sodom pod nazivom natron.

Like any salt, natron can prevent decay by killing bacteria

Kao bilo koja so, natron može da spreči propadanje ubijanjem bakterija

and preventing the body's natural digestive enzymes from working.

i da spreči prirodne digestivne enzime tela da rade.

But natron isn't just any salt.

Natron, međutim, nije bilo kakva so.

It's mainly a mixture of two alkaline salts,

Uglavnom je mešavina dve alkalne soli,

soda ash and baking soda.

natrijum karbonata i sode bikarbone.

Alkaline salts are especially deadly to bacteria.

Alkalne soli su posebno smrtonosne po bakterije

And they can turn fatty membranes into a hard, soapy substance,

i mogu da pretvore membrane masti u tvrdu, sapunastu supstancu,

thereby maintaining the corpse's structure.

tako održavajući strukturu leša.

After dealing with the internal organs,

Posle obrađivanja unutrašnjih organa,

the priest stuffed the body cavity with sacks of more natron

sveštenik je stavljao u telesne šupljine tkaninu sa još natrona

and washed it clean to disinfect the skin.

i zatim ih ispirao da bi dezinfikovao kožu.

Then, the corpse was set in a bed of still more natron

Zatim je telo stavljano u još natrona

for about 35 days to preserve its outer flesh.

na još nekih 35 dana kako bi se očuvalo spoljašnje meso.

By the time of its removal,

Do trenutka njenog otklanjanja,

the alkaline salts had sucked the fluid from the body

alkalna so bi skupila svu tečnost iz tela

and formed hard brown clumps.

i formirala tvrde braon grudve.

The corpse wasn't putrid,

Leš ne bi satrulio,

but it didn't exactly smell good, either.

ali nije baš ni sjajno mirisao.

So, priests poured tree resin over the body to seal it,

Sveštenik bi polio smolu sa drveta preko tela da ga učvrsti,

massaged it with a waxy mixture that included cedar oil,

masirao ga mešavinom sličnom vosku koja je sadržala i ulje kedra,

and then wrapped it in linen.

a zatim bi ga uvio u platno.

Finally, they placed the mummy in a series of nested coffins

Konačno, smestili bi mumiju među gomilu kovčega,

and sometimes even a stone sarcophagus.

a nekada čak i u kamene sarkofage.

So how successful were the ancient Egyptians at evading decay?

Pa, koliko su drevni Egipćani bili uspešni u izbegavanju propadanja?

On one hand, mummies are definitely not intact human bodies.

Sa jedne strane, mumije definitivno nisu netaknuta ljudska tela.

Their brains have been mashed up and flushed out,

Njihovi su mozgovi smoždeni i izbačeni u mlazu,

their organs have been removed and salted like salami,

organi su im otklonjeni i soljeni kao salama,

and about half of their remaining body mass has been drained away.

a oko polovine preostale telesne mase je izdrenirano.

Still, what remains is amazingly well-preserved.

Ipak, ono što preostaje je začuđujuće dobro sačuvano.

Even after thousands of years,

Čak i posle hiljadu godina,

scientists can perform autopsies on mummies

naučnici mogu da urade autopsiju mumija

to determine their causes of death,

da bi odredili uzrok smrti,

and possibly even isolate DNA samples.

a možda čak i da izoluju DNK uzorke.

This has given us new information.

Ovo nam je dalo nove informacije.

For example, it seems that air pollution was a serious problem in ancient Egypt,

Na primer, čini se da je zagađenje vazduha bilo ozbiljan problem u drevnom Egiptu,

probably because of indoor fires used to bake bread.

verovatno zato što se koristila kućna vatra za pečenje hleba.

Cardiovascular disease was also common, as was tuberculosis.

Kardiovaskularne bolesti bile su učestale, takođe, kao i tuberkuloza.

So ancient Egyptians were somewhat successful at evading decay.

Dakle, drevni Egipćani donekle su bili uspešni u izbegavanju propadanja.

Still, like death, taxes are inevitable.

Ipak, kao i smrt, porez se ne može izbeći.

When some mummies were transported, they were taxed as salted fish.

Kada su se mumije prevozile, oporezivane su kao slana riba.