古埃及最早使用丝绸可追溯至公元前1000年

The silk industry had its origin in China and the material probably first reached the Mediterranean countries via Persia. Silk was not used in Egypt until later; the ear- liest example that can be traced is of Ptolemaic date from Mosta-gedda, a woollen tunic with decorative stripes with a weft of white silk. Lucan, writing in the middle of the first century, described Cleopatra with “her white breasts resplendent through the Sidonian fabric, which, wrought in close texture by the skill of the Seres, the needle of the workmen of the Nile has separated and has loosened the wrap by stretching out the web”.

丝绸工业起源于中国，丝绸第一次是通过波斯到达地中海国家，此后，埃及才开始使用丝绸；可以追溯到的最早例子是在托勒密时期摩斯塔吉达的一件有白色丝绸纬纱装饰条纹的羊毛束腰外衣。公元一世纪的罗马诗人鲁康（Lucan）在他的史诗《法尔萨利》中写到埃及女王克里奥佩特拉（Cleopatra）：克里奥佩特拉的白腻酥胸透过西顿的罗襦而闪闪发亮。这种罗襦是用赛里斯（中国）的机杼织成，并用尼罗河畔的织针编出粗大透亮的网眼。

A portion of a coloured silk fabric was found at Qustul, south of Abu Simbel, the exact date of which is not certain, though it is probably not older than the fourth century AD. From the fourth century AD onwards silk became more common in Egypt.

在阿布辛贝勒以南的库斯图尔发现了某彩色丝织物的一部分，其确切日期尚不确定，但应该不会早于公元四世纪。从公元四世纪开始，丝绸在埃及变得更加普遍。

In 1993, Nature published an article "Use of Silk in Ancient Egypt". The study suggested that silk was used in Egypt as long ago as 1,000 years BC, which would shed new light on ancient trading practices.

1993年，《自然》杂志发表了一篇文章《古埃及丝绸的使用》。研究表明，早在公元前1000年，埃及人就已经开始使用丝绸了，这为研究古代贸易实践提供新的线索。

On examining hair samples of mummies in the scanning electron microscope, the reaearch team found a piece of tissue between the curls which had the characteristic appearance of silk. To show that the specimen was silk, the team performed infrared studies using multiple internal reflection, allowing nondestructive identification of the material. The spectra clearly identified silk.

The team performed amino-acid analysis of the sample and obtained the typical spectrum of hydrolysed silk, with high glycine, serine and alanine peaks. To exclude the possibility that the silk specimen could have been added later to the mummy"s hair, the team performed amino-acid racemization studies on the mummy"s hydrolysed hair samples and on the hydrolysed silk specimen: proline racemization was used as the marker amino acid. they used an HPLC method for the separation of L and D forms4.

研究团队进行了氨基酸分析，并获得了水解蚕丝的典型光谱，发现具有高甘氨酸、丝氨酸和丙氨酸峰。为了排除丝绸标本是后来被添加到木乃伊头发中的可能性，研究团队对木乃伊的水解头发样本和水解丝绸标本进行了氨基酸外消旋化研究：脯氨酸外消旋化被用作标记氨基酸，使用高效液相色谱法来分离L型和D型。

The D/L racemization ratios from hair and silk were comparable, which excludes contamination of hair by the silk tissue in recent times. The mummy, a 30-50-year-old female, was found in Thebes, Deir el Medina, at the burial ground of the king"s workmen. Based on anthropological data, the mummification method, the burial ground and amino- acid racemization, the mummy can be assigned to the twenty-first dynasty.

头发和蚕丝的D/L外消旋率相当，这就排除了后期蚕丝组织对头发的污染。这具木乃伊是一位30－50岁的女性，在底比斯的代尔麦地那工匠村被发现。根据人类学资料、木乃伊制作方法、遗址地点和氨基酸外消旋作用分析，该木乃伊可归属于第二十一王朝。

来源：《Nature》杂志

中文翻译：严怡文