In the Bible, Abraham was impressed by how well his future daughter-in-law Rebecca cared for their camels.
据圣经记载亚布拉罕对于他未来继女瑞贝卡好生照料骆驼的美好心灵印象深刻。
The animals have long been a crucial part of life in the region, opening it to trade with lands as far as India.
骆驼一直以来都是这个地区的主要动物,而且正是骆驼打开了通往遥远的印度的通商关口。
Camels were likely domesticated in the Arabian peninsula about three thousand years ago.
骆驼很可能在3000多年以前的阿拉伯半岛上就被人类所驯化。
But archaeological evidence suggested that camels arrived in the Levant well after the biblical patriarchs, theoretically about 2,500 to 3,000 years ago.
但是考古学证据表明骆驼到达黎凡特地区的时间刚好是在圣经先祖出现之后,理论上推算大概是距今2500到3000年前。
Now, researchers have nailed that date.
而现在研究人员已经找到确切的时间点。
The finding is in the peer-reviewed publication Tel Aviv:Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University.
这一发现已发表在特拉维夫的出版刊物《特拉维夫大学考古研究所杂志》上。
Israel’s oldest camel bones are found at ancient copper mines in the Arava Valley, between the Dead Sea and the gulf.
在位于死海和埃拉特海湾之间的阿拉瓦山谷中古老铜矿废墟内最近发现了以色列最古老的骆驼遗骸。
The research team used radiocarbon dating and other techniques to precisely pin down the layers in which camel bones are found at a number of sites.
研究团队采用了放射性碳同位素标记法及其它技术来对于骆驼骨架遗骸的地点进行精确地层定位。
The oldest domesticated camels at all sites dated to the last third of the 10th century B.C.E.
这些目前发现的最古老驯养骆驼的所有地点都能追溯到公元前第十世纪的最后三分之一时间段。
That date is centuries after the time of the Patriarchs.
这一日期可是在圣经先祖出现之后。
This analysis gives more support to the theory that Bible accounts were written down long after the events described might have occurred.
这项分析很有力的支持圣经所记载的都是发生很久之前的事件的这一观点。