Bones in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist：study 研究︰保加利亞出土的遺骨可能屬施洗者約翰

Bones in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist：study
研究︰保加利亞出土的遺骨可能屬施洗者約翰
2012-07-25◎ 魏國金

Scientists have found new evidence they say supports the theory that a knuckle bone and other human remains found under a church floor in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist.
科學家發現新證據，宣稱可支持在保加利亞一間教堂地板下發現的一個指關節骨與其他人類遺骨可能屬於施洗者約翰的說法。

The relics found in a small marble sarcophagus two years ago on a Bulgarian island called Sveti Ivan, which translates as Saint John, also included a human tooth, part of a skull and three animal bones.
2年前在稱為Sveti Ivan的保加利亞小島，其譯名為聖約翰島的一個大理石小石棺內被發現的聖骨，也包括一枚人齒、部分頭骨與3個動物骨骼。

A research team from Oxford University dated the right-handed knuckle bone to the first century AD, when John is believed to have lived until his beheading ordered by king Herod, the university said in a statement.
牛津大學研究團隊確定這個右手指關節骨的年代為第一世紀，據信約翰生存於該年代直至希律王下令將他斬首，該大學聲明說。

And scientists from the University of Copenhagen analysed the DNA of the bones, finding they came from a single individual, probably a man, from a family in the modern-day Middle East, where John would have lived.
同時，哥本哈根大學的科學家分析遺骨的DNA，發現它們屬於同一人，或許是一名男人，源自今日的中東一個家族，而約翰應該曾生活在該處。

While these findings do not definitively prove anything, they also don’t refute the theory first proffered by the Bulgarian archaeologists who found the remains while excavating under an ancient church on the island.
雖然這些發現無法決定性的證明任何事，它們也無法反駁由保加利亞考古學家率先提出的上述說法；這些學者在該島挖掘一座古教堂時，發現這些遺骨。

Bulgarian archaeologists had found a small box made of hardened volcanic ash close to the sarcophagus. The box bore inscriptions in ancient Greek that referred to John the Baptist and the date that Christians celebrate his birth, June 24. The prophet allegedly baptized Jesus in the River Jordan.（AFP）
保加利亞考古學家在接近石棺處，發現一個由硬化的火山灰做成的小盒子。盒上以古希臘文鐫刻的碑文，提及施洗者約翰以及基督徒慶祝他的生日日期，6月24日。傳說這名先知在約旦河為耶穌施行洗禮。（法新社）

新聞辭典

date︰動詞，確定…年代、追溯，也有過時之意。例句︰This fashion is beginning to date.（這款式樣開始退流行了。）

morden-day︰形容詞，現代的、當代的、今日的。例句︰He’s a modern-day Robin Hood.（他是現代羅賓漢。）

baptize︰動詞，給…施浸禮。例句︰She was baptized a Catholic.（她受洗成為天主教徒。）