This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Susanne Bard.

這裡是科學美國人——60秒科學系列，我是蘇珊娜·巴德。

Some 5.600 years ago, people in the Egyptian city of Hierakonpolis did something that's still a very popular activity today: they brewed and drank beer. We know this because archaeologists examining the area near the ruins of a cemetery for the elite discovered a structure containing five ceramic vats that would have been heated from below. Residues in the vats confirmed that they had once made beer.

"And it's estimated that if these five vats were operating at the same time, 325 liters would have been produced, which is equal to 650 cans of Budweiser."

“據估計，如果這五個大桶同時工作，可生產325升啤酒，相當於650罐百威啤酒。”

Texas Tech University microbiologist Moamen Elmassry. He says this ancient beer would have tasted very different from what our modern palates are used to. The Egyptian beer makers did use malted wheat and barley in the brewing process. But no one had mastered carbonation yet. So the resulting brew was a flat, unfiltered malt beverage with a low alcohol content.

得克薩斯理工大學的微生物學家莫阿門·埃爾馬斯利說到。他說，這種古老的啤酒嚐起來和我們現代人習慣的口味很不一樣。埃及啤酒製造商在釀造過程中確實使用了小麥麥芽和大麥麥芽。但當時還沒有人掌握碳酸化作用。因此，釀造出來的啤酒是一種無汽、未過濾且酒精含量很低的麥芽飲料。

Elmassry's colleagues recently sampled thick, dark deposits from the Hierakonpolis vats. The chemical analysis confirmed that they were indeed the product of beer making and not some other fermented food. The tests also revealed other ingredients ancient Egyptians put in their beer. The researchers found a high concentration of the amino acid proline, which is abundant in dates and some other fruits.

埃爾馬斯利的同事最近從希拉孔波利斯大桶中取樣了黑稠沉積物。化學分析證實這些沉積物確實是啤酒釀造的產物，而非其他發酵食物。測試還發現了古埃及人在啤酒中加入的其他成分。研究人員發現了高濃度的脯氨酸，這種氨基酸在棗和其他水果中含量豐富。

"This result suggests that dates could have been used or incorporated in the beer for flavor."

“這一結果表明，棗可能已經被使用或加入啤酒中進行調味。”

And maybe to add some sweet notes.

或許是為了增加甜味。

Hops—which act as both a flavoring and a preservative—weren't added to beer until medieval times.

啤酒花作為調味品和防腐劑，直到中世紀才新增到啤酒中。

"The use of hops was unknown to the ancient Egyptians, and we think that they used phosphoric acid to preserve their beer."

“古埃及人不知道啤酒花的用途，我們認為他們用磷酸來儲存啤酒。”

The residues were indeed high in phosphoric acid, a product of barley grains added during the fermentation process. Phosphoric acid is often used today to prolong the shelf life of alcoholic beverages.

這些殘留物中確實含有大量的磷酸，磷酸是在發酵過程中新增的大麥顆粒的產物。磷酸現在常被用來延長酒精飲料的保質期。

Phosphoric acid via barley would have made it possible to mass-produce beer, store it for extended periods and even transport it—all consistent with the important role beer played in ancient Egyptian society. It not only provided hydration and nutrition but was also part of religious rituals among the elite.

大麥產生的磷酸，使大量生產、長期住在、甚至運輸啤酒成為可能，這一切都與啤酒在古埃及社會中的重要作用相一致。啤酒不僅提供水合作用和營養，還是精英階層宗教儀式的一部分。

The study is in the journal Scientific Reports.Studying ancient beer has allowed Elmassry to reflect on the intersection of science and history.

這項研究發表在《科學報告》期刊上。研究古代啤酒讓埃爾馬斯利得以仔細思考科學與歷史的交叉點。

"I teach a microbiology lab, and we brew beer in the lab, and the students see the whole fermentation process. And thinking about how ancient Egyptians were able to do a similar thing thousands of years ago, it's kind of very special feeling."

“我在微生物實驗室教課，我們在實驗室裡釀造啤酒，學生們看到了整個發酵過程。思考古埃及人在幾千年前是如何做類似事情的，這是種非常特別的感覺。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Susanne Bard.