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By Prof. Roger S. Wotton — I the Ten Plagues of Egypt Described

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By Prof. Roger S. Wotton — I the Ten Plagues of Egypt Described THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT ‘plagues’. For example the “Black Death” is called the plague (Yersinia pestis), and tabloid newspapers in the — 80s referred to AIDS as the “Gay Plague”. It is not easy to be rational when faced with a plague and By Prof. Roger S. Wotton mythical accounts, often focussing on divine retribution and the supernatural, are common. — Attempting to be rational I We all need to have an explanation of events that The ten Plagues of Egypt described in the Bible were surprise or frighten us. Sometimes these explanations central to the liberation of the Jewish people from the are rational, sometimes less so, and it is not always oppression of the Egyptians. The succession of easy to know when we are involved with myths and disasters demoralised the Egyptians and were seen as when we are involved with facts. In this section I will a victory for Jewish monotheistic beliefs. In this discuss how myths arise when a rational explanation essay, natural explanations for most of the Plagues is not forthcoming1. In the main body of the essay I are proposed and a chronology of events is provided. will then attempt to give natural explanations for the Could the mythological explanation of these arguably ten Plagues of Egypt and identify the context in natural phenomena still have a profound influence on which the mythology occurred. the modern world? So how do myths arise? A good starting point in attempting to answer this question is provided by myths surrounding the cult of John What are plagues? Frum, a cargo cult that developed on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu mid-way through the last century. Biologists define a population as a group of Cargo cults arise where native peoples have witnessed organisms of one species and a community as a group the import of goods at staging or trading posts, and of populations – often a large number – that co-exist believe that a god will at some point bring similar in one area. Sometimes, one of the populations goods - “cargo” - for them. On Tanna, the expands dramatically in numbers and this has an indigenous population had been exposed to the adverse effect on other populations within the Christian religion and to “cargo”, as an airstrip was community. Such imbalances may result from built on the island during the Second World War to immigrations or from conditions especially bring in supplies. All the separate pieces that had favourable to the greatly increased population. An been observed were then melded into one: a god example of the effect of immigrations is provided by called John Frum (described as being dressed in US the introduction of rabbits into Australia. In the fatigues including a war helmet) lived in a local absence of natural predators, and aided by their high volcano and he would bring cargo to the native rate of reproduction, rabbit populations developed peoples. To encourage this, clearings were built in the such high densities that all manner of controls have forest to attract the cargo-bearing aircraft and altars been needed to prevent over-grazing of grasslands. (the Christian religious connection) placed in the An example of especially favourable conditions is clearings. These altars didn’t bear the familiar provided by years in which aphids, a primary food religious symbols of the Catholic Church, but crude source of ladybirds, are unusually abundant. For models of transport aircraft. Viewed from our example, during the summer of 1976 it was difficult sophisticated Western perspective, it is easy to scoff to drive through some parts of Europe without at the ideas of the followers of John Frum but the encountering swarms of ladybirds that required attempts to rationalise the unknown seem ingenious windscreen wipers and washers to be operated at and were certainly powerful for the followers of the maximum. cult. In discussing the ten Plagues and their Only when huge population increases affect consequences, it is useful to remember John Frum humans, directly or indirectly, are they known as plagues. Plagues are biological but groups of plagues 1 There are other possible interpretations of the origin of can also be associated with non-living natural events, myths, but it is not the purpose of this article to discuss the as occurred in the ten Plagues of Egypt. There appear topic in detail. I use the OED’s definition of a myth (I.1.a): not to be any single plagues of non-living origin. “A traditional story, typically involving supernatural beings Plagues represent threats to the human or forces, which embodies and provides an explanation, control of Nature and to human survival, and aetiology, or justification for something such as the early particularly virulent diseases are often referred to as history of a society, a religious belief or ritual, or a natural phenomenon.” 2 and to remind ourselves of the way that humans upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned attempt to rationalise unfamiliar and awe-inspiring to blood. events, and how strongly held the resulting beliefs can 18. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river be. shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water So, how do we know what went on at the of the river. time of the ten Plagues of Egypt? Our record comes 19. And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take from Judaeo-Christian religious writings, and the thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, sources given below are from the King James’ Bible. upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, This is a written account recorded following and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; generations of verbal transmission, with the inevitable and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, distortions that result. We all know that telling stories both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. over and over again results in changes and this also 20. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; applies to recording and translation, with variations and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the induced by the thinking and scholarship of the time. river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; In taking this line, I am not arguing that the biological and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. and physical events described did not take place – I 21. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river think it very likely that they did – rather that they stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the have been embellished, ordered, and described river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. through the lens of religious mythology. The biblical account therefore needs to be Some rivers carry high sediment loads and, where set in its political, social and geographical context. It soils and underlying rocks are red, the water has the appears that events took place in Egypt (although I same red colour as a result. Indeed, there are several have been told by one Jewish scholar that this might “Red Rivers” in the World that have been so named not be the case) and involved Jewish people who for this reason. If there was abnormally heavy rainfall were oppressed and working for the ruling on soils that had been baked by a drought, the result Egyptians. As well as this inequality of political would be a flood which then subsided. This could power, there was a clash between the belief systems lead to sediment-rich water from red tributaries being of the two peoples – the Jews being monotheistic, fed into larger rivers3,4,5 and remaining in adjacent with an all-powerful, supernatural God and the flood pools. The ancient Egyptians identified the Egyptians being polytheistic and animalistic. We have “Black Lands” (those with fertile, alluvial soils much less information about the geographical and washed from upstream, organic-rich deposits) climatic context, but I will suggest below that surrounding the Nile from the “Red Lands” of dramatic climatic effects probably had an important adjacent regions (characterised by desert soils that role to play. were brightly coloured)6. The influx of red soils from the Red Lands is probably being described here. So what about the fish kills and the stink? II Fish are dependent on their gills for gas exchange, and these delicate structures are protected by a The Ten Plagues of Egypt covering of mucus secreted from cells over the gill surface. In response to clogging by sediments, excess In this section, each plague is described using a mucus is produced to reduce the abrasive effect. quotation from the King James’ Bible2, and I follow However, unless times of high sediment load are each with a natural explanation (where possible). In brief, the excess mucus prevents respiration and can giving explanations, I concentrate solely on the lead to kills on a dramatic scale, with dead fish plagues themselves, not on the more dubitable becoming all too visible at the water surface. As we conversations between individuals and deities know, dead fish decompose and then certainly stink. described in the biblical account. Add to this the decomposition of any other organic matter trapped within the sediments and there will be 1. Rivers turned to blood, fish killed 3 http://dannysdesktop.themesunlimited.com/Files/nasa/ Exodus 7: 17-21 ColombiaRedRiver.jpg 4 http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/images/ 17.
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