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【簡(jiǎn)譯】古代的黃金（Gold in Antiquity）

2022-07-18 15:58 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

Gold, chemical symbol Au (from the Latin aurum meaning 'shining dawn'), is a precious metal which has been used since antiquity in the production of jewellery, coinage, sculpture, vessels and as a decoration for buildings, monuments and statues.

? ? ? ? ? 黃金，化學(xué)符號(hào)Au（來(lái)自拉丁文aurum，意思是"閃亮的黎明"），是一種貴金屬，自古以來(lái)一直被用于制造珠寶、錢幣、雕塑、器皿，以及作為建筑物、紀(jì)念碑和雕像的裝飾。

Gold does not corrode and so it became a symbol of immortality and power in many ancient cultures. Its rarity and aesthetic qualities made it an ideal material for ruling classes to demonstrate their power and position. First found at surface level near rivers in Asia Minor such as the Pactolus in Lydia, gold was also mined underground from 2000 BCE by the Egyptians and later by the Romans in Africa, Portugal and Spain. There is also evidence that the Romans smelted gold particles from ores such as iron pyrites. Easily worked and mixed with other metals such as silver and copper to increase its strength and change its colour, gold was used for a wide range of purposes.

? ? ? ? ? ?黃金不會(huì)被腐蝕，因此在許多古代文化中，它成為不朽和權(quán)力的象征。它的稀有性和美學(xué)品質(zhì)使它成為統(tǒng)治階級(jí)展示其權(quán)力和地位的理想材料。黃金首先在小亞細(xì)亞的河流附近被發(fā)現(xiàn)，如呂底亞的Pactolus河；從公元前2000年開始，埃及人也在地下開采黃金，后來(lái)羅馬人也在非洲、葡萄牙和西班牙開采。還有證據(jù)表明，羅馬人從黃鐵礦等礦石中冶煉出黃金顆粒。黃金很容易加工，可以與其他金屬如銀和銅混合以增加其強(qiáng)度和改變其顏色，因此黃金有著廣泛的用途。

珠寶首飾

In most ancient cultures gold was popular in jewellery and art because of its value, aesthetic qualities, ductility and malleability. Electrum (the natural alloy of gold and silver) was used in jewellery by the Egyptians from 5000 BCE. Gold jewellery was worn by both men and women in the Sumer civilization around 3000 BCE and gold chains were first produced in the city of Ur in 2500 BCE. The Minoan civilization on Crete in the early 2nd millennium BCE is credited with producing the first cable chain jewellery and the Minoans made a vast array of jewellery items using an extensive range of techniques. Gold jewellery took the form of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, diadems, pendants, pins and brooches. Techniques and shapes included filigree (a technique known to the Egyptians from 2500 BCE) where the gold is pulled into wire and twisted into different designs), beaten thin shapes, granulation (surface decoration with small, soldered granules of gold), embossing, chasing, inlaying, moulding and engraving. In South America, gold was similarly worked by the Chavin civilization of Peru around 1200 BCE and gold casting was perfected by the Nazca society from 500 BCE. The Romans used gold as a setting for precious and semi-precious gemstones, a fashion continued into the Byzantine era with the use of pearls, gems and enamels.

? ? ? ? ? 在大多數(shù)古代文化中，黃金因其價(jià)值、美學(xué)特質(zhì)、延展性和延展性而在珠寶和藝術(shù)中很受歡迎。從公元前5000年起，埃及人就開始在珠寶中使用Electrum（金和銀的天然合金）。在公元前3000年左右的蘇美爾文明中，男性和女性都佩戴黃金首飾；公元前2500年，烏爾城首次生產(chǎn)出金鏈子。公元前二千年早期克里特島上的米諾斯文明，被認(rèn)為是世界上第一條纜鏈珠寶的生產(chǎn)者，他們使用大量技術(shù)制造了許多珠寶首飾。黃金首飾的形式包括項(xiàng)鏈、手鐲、耳環(huán)、戒指、胸針、吊墜、別針和胸針。技術(shù)和形狀包括絲線（公元前2500年埃及人就知道的技術(shù)），將黃金拉成線并扭曲成不同的設(shè)計(jì)）、打薄的形狀、造粒（用焊接的小金粒進(jìn)行表面裝飾）、壓花、追逐、鑲嵌、模塑和雕刻。在南美洲，公元前1200年左右，秘魯?shù)牟槲奈拿饕矊?duì)黃金進(jìn)行了類似的加工，納斯卡社會(huì)從公元前500年開始完善了黃金鑄造。羅馬人用黃金來(lái)鑲嵌寶石和半寶石，這種時(shí)尚一直延續(xù)到拜占庭時(shí)代，他們使用珍珠、寶石和琺瑯作裝飾。

貨幣

Gold was first used as coinage in the late 8th century BCE in Asia Minor. Irregular in shape and often with only one side stamped, the coins were usually made of electrum. The first pure gold coins with stamped images are credited to king Croesus of Lydia, 561-546 BCE and a contemporary gold refinery has been excavated at the capital, Sardis. Even the purest naturally occurring gold can contain 5% silver but the Lydians were able to refine their gold using salt and furnace temperatures of between 600 and 800°C. The salt mixed with the silver and formed a vapour of silver chloride leaving behind pure gold which could be used to create a standardised coinage of guaranteed gold content. The Mycenaean civilization also widely used gold coins, as did the later Greek and Roman Empires, although silver was the more usual material used. One of the most famous gold coins in antiquity was the Roman bezant. First introduced in the reign of Emperor Constantine it weighed up to 70 Troy grains and was in currency from the 4th to the 12th centuries CE.

? ? ? ? ?公元前8世紀(jì)末，小亞細(xì)亞首次使用黃金作為錢幣。金幣的形狀不規(guī)則，而且通常只有一面有印記，是摻入白銀制成的。第一枚印有圖像的純金幣被認(rèn)為是公元前561-546年呂底亞國(guó)王Croesus的金幣，人們?cè)趨蔚讈喪锥妓_迪斯挖掘出了一個(gè)黃金精煉廠。即使是最純凈的天然黃金也可能含有5%的銀，但呂底亞人能夠使用鹽和600至800℃的爐溫來(lái)提煉黃金。鹽與銀混合，形成氯化銀的蒸氣，留下純金，可用于制造保證黃金含量的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化金幣。邁錫尼文明也廣泛使用金幣，后來(lái)的希臘和羅馬帝國(guó)也是如此，盡管銀是更常用的材料。古代最著名的金幣之一是羅馬貝贊特（Roman bezant）。它在君士坦丁皇帝統(tǒng)治時(shí)期首次推出，重達(dá)70特洛伊粒，從公元4世紀(jì)到12世紀(jì)都是帝國(guó)的貨幣。

宗教藝術(shù)品和其他用途

The value and beauty of solid gold made it an ideal material for particularly important political and religious objects such as crowns, sceptres, symbolic statues, libation vessels and votive offerings. Gold items were sometimes buried with the dead as a symbol of the deceased's status and the conspicuous (and non-profitable) consumption of such a rare and valuable material must surely have been designed to impress. Perhaps the most famous example is the so-called mask of Agamemnon found at Mycenae. In the Inca civilization of Peru gold was considered the sweat of the sun god Inti and so was used to manufacture all manner of objects of religious significance, especially masks and sun disks. In ancient Colombia gold was similarly revered for its lustre and association with the sun and in powdered form was used to cover the body of the future king in a lavish coronation ceremony which gave rise to the legend of El Dorado.

? ? ? ? ?純金的價(jià)值和美感使其成為特別重要的政治和宗教物品的理想材料，如王冠、權(quán)杖、象征性的雕像、酒器和祭品。黃金物品有時(shí)會(huì)與死者埋在一起，作為死者地位的象征，而這樣一種罕見的、有價(jià)值的材料的顯眼（和非盈利）消費(fèi)肯定是為了給人留下深刻印象。也許最著名的例子是在邁錫尼發(fā)現(xiàn)的所謂阿伽門農(nóng)的面具。在秘魯?shù)挠〖游拿髦校S金被認(rèn)為是太陽(yáng)神Inti的汗水，因此黃金被印加人用來(lái)制成各種具有宗教意義的物品，特別是面具和太陽(yáng)盤。在古代哥倫比亞，黃金同樣因其光澤和與太陽(yáng)的聯(lián)系而受到推崇，在奢華的加冕儀式中，黃金以粉末的形式被用來(lái)覆蓋未來(lái)國(guó)王的身體，這就產(chǎn)生了埃爾多拉多的傳說(shuō)。

As a decorative covering, gold plate and gold leaf (gold beaten into extremely thin sheets) have been used to decorate shrines, temples, tombs, sarcophagi, statues, ornamental weapons and armour, ceramics, glassware and jewellery since Egyptian times. Perhaps the most famous example of gold leaf from antiquity is the death mask of King Tutankhamun.

? ? ? ? ? 作為一種裝飾性的覆蓋物，金板和金箔（黃金被打成極薄的片狀）自埃及時(shí)代起就被用來(lái)裝飾神殿、寺廟、墳?zāi)埂⑹?、雕像、裝飾性武器和盔甲、陶瓷、玻璃器皿和珠寶。也許古代最著名的金箔例子是圖坦卡蒙國(guó)王的死亡面具。

Gold, with its malleability and incorruptibility, has also been used in dental work for over 3000 years. The Etruscans in the 7th century BCE used gold wire to fix in place substitute animal teeth. As thread, gold was also woven into fabrics. Gold has also been used in medicine, for example, Pliny in the 1st century BCE suggests gold should be applied to wounds as a defence to 'magic potions'.

? ? ? ? ? 黃金具有延展性和不腐性，被用于牙科工作也有3000多年的歷史了。公元前7世紀(jì)的伊特魯里亞人用金絲來(lái)固定替代的動(dòng)物牙齒。作為線，黃金也被編織成織物。黃金也被用于醫(yī)學(xué)，例如，普林尼在公元前1世紀(jì)建議將黃金涂抹在傷口上，作為對(duì)"魔法藥水"的一種防御。

黃金分選

Concerns over the authenticity of gold led the Egyptians to devise a method to determine the purity of gold around 1500 BCE (or earlier). This method is called fire assaying and involves taking a small sample of the material under test and firing it in a small crucible with a quantity of lead. The crucible was made of bone ash and absorbed the lead and any other base metals during the firing process leaving only gold and silver. The silver was removed using nitric acid and the remaining pure gold was weighed and compared to the weight before firing. Archimedes was also aware that the specific gravity of gold is altered depending on the percentage content of base metals, pure gold having twice the gravity of silver for example.

? ? ? ? ? 對(duì)黃金真實(shí)性的擔(dān)憂導(dǎo)致埃及人在公元前1500年左右（或更早）設(shè)計(jì)出一種方法來(lái)確定黃金的純度。這種方法被稱為火測(cè)法，取一小塊被測(cè)材料的樣品，在一個(gè)裝有一定量鉛的小坩堝中燒制。坩堝由骨灰制成，在燒制過程中吸收了鉛和任何其他賤金屬，只留下金和銀。銀被用硝酸除去，剩下的純金被稱重并與燒制前的重量進(jìn)行比較。阿基米德還知道，黃金的比重會(huì)根據(jù)賤金屬的百分比含量而改變，例如，純金的比重是銀的兩倍。

Gold is such a precious material that for centuries various attempts were made to produce it through alchemy - that is the chemical transformation of base metals into gold using the philosopher's stone (lapis philosophorum). First attempts were made in China in the 4th century BCE and also in ancient Greece and although unsuccessful, nevertheless, the activity laid the foundations of modern chemistry.

? ? ? ? ? 黃金是一種非常珍貴的材料，幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，人們?cè)噲D通過煉金術(shù)來(lái)生產(chǎn)黃金——也就是用哲人石（lapis philosophorum）將賤金屬化學(xué)轉(zhuǎn)化為黃金。現(xiàn)今歷史記載的第一次嘗試是在公元前4世紀(jì)的中國(guó)和古希臘，雖然沒有成功，但這項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)奠定了現(xiàn)代化學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)。