(单词翻译:单击)
Nowadays, we use different products for personal cleanliness, laundry, dishwashing and household cleaning, but this is very much a 20th-century development.
如今，我们使用不同的产品来进行个人清洁、洗衣服、洗碗和家居清洁，但这在很大程度上是20世纪的发展成果。
The origins of cleanliness date back to prehistoric times.
清洁的起源可以追溯到史前时代。
Since water is essential for life, the earliest people lived near water and knew something about its cleansing properties – at least that it rinsed mud off their hands.
由于水对生命至关重要，因此，最早的人类住在离水很近的地方，并了解水的清洁作用——至少知道水能洗掉他们手上的泥。
During the excavation of ancient Babylon, evidence was found that soapmaking was known as early as 2800 BC.
在古巴比伦的挖掘过程中，有证据表明，早在公元前2800年，人们就知道制造制皂。
Archaeologists discovered cylinders made of clay, with inscriptions on them saying that fats were boiled with ashes.
考古学家发现了由粘土制成的圆柱体，上面刻有文字，上面写着由脂肪和灰烬煮制而成。
This is a method of making soap, though there’s no reference to the purpose of this material.
这是一种制造肥皂的方法，尽管没有提到这种材料的用途。
The early Greeks bathed for aesthetic reasons and apparently didn’t use soap.
早期希腊人洗澡是出于美观的考虑，显然他们不使用肥皂。
Instead, they cleaned their bodies with blocks of sand, pumice and ashes, then anointed themselves with oil, and scraped off the oil and dirt with a metal instrument known as a strigil.
取而代之的是，他们用沙块、浮石和灰烬清洗自己的身体，然后在身上涂上油，并用一种名为刮身板的金属工具刮去油和污垢。
They also used oil mixed with ashes.
他们还使用混合了灰烬的油。
Clothes were washed without soap in streams.
衣服是在小溪里洗的，没用肥皂。
The ancient Germans and Gauls are also credited with discovering how to make a substance called ‘soap’, made of melted animal fat and ashes.
古日耳曼人和高卢人还发现了制造“肥皂”的方法，这种物质是由融化的动物脂肪和灰烬制成的。
They used this mixture to tint their hair red.
他们用这种混合物把头发染成红色。
Soap got its name, according to an ancient Roman legend, from Mount Sapo, where animals were sacrificed, leaving deposits of animal fat.
根据古罗马传说，肥皂的名字来源于肥皂山，那里的动物被宰杀后留下动物脂肪沉积。
Rain washed these deposits, along with wood ashes, down into the clay soil along the River Tiber.
雨水将这些沉积物和木灰一起冲入台伯河沿岸的粘土中。
Women found that this mixture greatly reduced the effort required to wash their clothes.
妇女们发现这种混合物大大减少了她们洗衣服所需的工作量。
As Roman civilisation advanced, so did bathing.
随着罗马文明的进步，沐浴方式也在进步。
The first of the famous Roman baths, supplied with water from their aqueducts, was built around 312 BC.
第一个著名的罗马浴场建于公元前312年左右，由他们的渡槽供水。
The baths were luxurious, and bathing became very popular.
浴场很豪华，洗澡变得很受欢迎。
And by the second century AD, the Greek physician Galen recommended soap for both medicinal and cleansing purposes.
到了公元2世纪，希腊内科医生盖伦建议将肥皂用于医疗和清洁。
