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Stephen Mortlock asks if the 10 plagues of Egypt were the result of an ecological domino effect or divine intervention?

s children, many of us will these might not have been referred have read how the Hebrew to the royal court for insertion in people living in Egypt were official chronicles. suffering under the cruel rule of the Pharaoh. Moses Recording history asked the Pharaoh to let When did the plagues occur and them return to their who was the tyrannical Pharaoh? homelands in Canaan, but The Greek historian Herodotus put the he refused. As a consequence, 10 plagues dates around 1570-1550 BC when Egypt Awere inflicted on the Egyptians in a was under the rule of the Hyksos (an divine demonstration of power and Asiatic tribe), but there was no Pharaoh, displeasure designed to persuade the until Ahmose I (1550-1525 BC) raised Pharaoh to reverse his decision. But were rebellion and overthrew the invaders. the plagues historical events or, as some During this time apocalyptic rainstorms, historians have suggested, simply devastated much of Egypt, and were passed-down accounts of several natural described on the Tempest Stele of Ahmose disasters? Some scholars concede that I, these have been attributed to short- from an historical standpoint, the first term climatic changes caused by the nine plagues resemble natural events and Thera volcanic eruption on the island of while some are disconnected, others Santorini around 1630 BC (although it has appear to be part of a chain reaction with also been suggested that the storm set patterns and a rapid succession. The reference is merely a metaphor for the Egyptians were renowned for recording chaos caused during the war). Trevisanato every event, whether temporal or (in his 2005 book The Plagues of Egypt: religious in nature, but there are few Archaeology, History, and Science Look at the references to plagues in ancient Bible), suggested this eruption was also Egyptian literature. What if the the trigger event for the plagues. plagues, however, involved villages There are indications that the and the countryside around Goshen, environmental effects of this THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE SCIENCE THE BIOMEDICAL 20 SCIENTIST History History SCIENTIST 21

Right. A volcano erupting on the Greek island of Santorini (Thera, Thira), thought by some to be the location of Atlantis. Date: 1866 THE 10 PLAGUES IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS eruption were felt around the globe – If toxic algal led to the first plague and Blood some scholars have also linked this dead frogs followed, it is not surprising The waters were turned eruption to the legend of Atlantis. that a swarm of insects would also follow. to blood – the fish in the river died and the Trevisanato believes that volcanic ash 01Egyptians couldn’t drink the foul water. tainted the Nile causing it to become The plagues continue acidic and sediments found at the bottom The lack of frogs in the river would have Frogs of lakes along the Nile Delta seem to let insect populations, normally kept in Frogs swarmed forth, suggest that there was deposit of volcanic check by the frogs, increase massively. covering every inch ash sometime during the Middle Bronze The rotting corpses of fish and frogs of land and entering 02houses and bedrooms. Age, which would be in line with the would have attracted significantly more eruption on the Greek volcanic island. In insects to the areas near the Nile. If so, an Lice a pre-industrial ancient Egypt, sulphates infestation with certain insects could All over Egypt, bugs from a massive volcanic fall out would have set the stage for the later plagues. crawled forth from the provide the simplest and most plausible Scientists have theorised that the sickness 03 dust to cover the land. scientific explanation for this that killed the beasts of the field for contamination. A red, acidic Nile would Egyptians in later plagues might have Wild animals Hordes of wild animals have killed the fish, kept people from been Bluetongue or African horse sickness destroyed everything in drinking from the river and, according to (AHS), these are Orbiviruses, of the their path. contemporary records, caused burns Reoviridae family, both of which can be 04 which later became infected with ‘larvae’. spread by insects of the Culicoides species. Pestilence However, Alfred Edersheim proposed in Marr and Malloy argued that the fourth A fatal pestilence killed most of the domestic his Old Testament Bible History that plague represents a swarm of flies, such animals of the Egyptians. Thutmose II (1509-1479 BC) may have as the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans). Studies 05 been the protagonist. In 1886 when the have shown that cattle heavily infested Boils mummy of Thutmose II was unwrapped with stable flies can become anaemic and The Pharaoh, his servants, by Gaston Maspero there were scars from have lower milk yields. The stable fly also the Egyptians and even their animals developed some type of infection which were still bites humans and could have led to the 06painful boils all over their bodies. visible even after being embalmed. “A massive volcanic fall out would provide undrinkable, the fish died and the air was boils that occurred as part of the sixth Maspero described the mummy as being the simplest and most plausible scientific filled with a horrid stench. Algal blooms plague. In many parts of the world, the Fiery hail “scabrous in patches, and covered with can be harmful to wildlife, as the algae species is a carrier of trypanosomid Hail struck down all the scars”. Lesions covered the back, waist, explanation for this contamination” contain a toxin that can accumulate in parasites including Trypanosoma evansi and crops in the fields and arms and legs of the body and there was a shellfish and poison the animals that Trypanosoma brucei. There would have also 07 shattered every tree. mixture of papules, scabs and scars. Had feed on them. Fumes from densely- been an increase in the common house fly Locusts Thutmose II died of a disease spreading of his reign the climate became dry and conditions the cells can be populous concentrated algal blooms can also (Musca domestica), which belongs to a group The locusts covered the through the region at that time? more desert-like. This change has been enough to turn water red. Euglena sanguinea disperse toxins in the air, causing of flies often referred to as “filth flies”. face of the land and Evidence exists that the Queen’s nanny, confirmed by a study of the stalagmites in is also known to produce the potent breathing problems for people. More The house fly has been in existence since swallowed up every crop 08and all the fruits of the trees. Sitre In, suffered from a similar condition. local Egyptian caves, which have provided icthyotoxin euglenophycin. The idea of an importantly, a bloom in the water would the origin of human life, is well adapted The details are very similar to descriptions a record of the weather patterns of the algal bloom is also proposed by Dr Stephan have the killed the fish, allowing to life in human habitations and acts as a of the 6th plague where “boils burst forth time. It is possible that the Nile turned Pflugmacher, who believes that when the amphibians to breed unchecked, as fish eat potential vector of diseases. A recent Darkness A thick darkness over upon man and beast throughout the land from a swiftly flowing river into a Nile changed it allowed the toxic algae their eggs. Studies have also shown that study found that over 100 pathogens the land of Egypt, so of Egypt!” (Exodus 9.9). sluggish, muddy watercourse due to the Planktothrix rubescens to thrive in the warm tadpoles, when stressed because of a including bacteria such as E. coli and S. total that the Egyptians rising temperatures and arid conditions. slow moving water. When the algae died change in their environment, quickly aureus, viruses, fungi and parasites have 09had to feel their way around. A red river This was the basis of the 1950s naturalistic it turned the water red causing a develop into frogs. The toxic water would been associated with this prolific insect, Another candidate for the Pharaoh theory by Greta Hort, who proposed phenomenon called “Burgundy blood”. have caused the amphibians to leave and so it is not surprising that people would Death of the first-born All firstborn Egyptian sons is Ramesses II (1303 - 1213 BC), that certain algae in particular, Dr JoAnn Burkholder has cited a similar swarm over the land in overwhelming have been suffering from increased (and firstborn cattle) died. made popular by the Hollywood Haematococcus pluvialis and Euglena condition in North Carolina in 1996 but numbers. The amphibians would have illnesses. Could the boils have been caused Israelites marked lamb's epic The Ten Commandments. At sanguinea, were able to flourish in caused by Pfiesteria piscidia. So there is stayed away from the deadly river and by S.aureus? 10blood above their door and were this time the climate of the these conditions. The red recorded evidence for this type of event. many would have died, leading to the third The fifth plague, which killed off the passed over. capital city Pi-Ramesses was wet colour is due to the presence of The ancient historian Josephus Flavius plague – lice (this could mean lice, fleas or Egyptian livestock, has similarities of and tropical, but towards the end astaxanthin and under the right reported that the blood red water was IMAGES: ALAMY gnats, based on the Hebrew word kînnîm). rinderpest, a member of the genus THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE 22 SCIENTIST History

Below. Death of the firstborn of Egypt – last of the ten plagues. Exodus, chapter XII

Morbillivirus, a member of the Paramyxoviridae family. This causes high fever, diarrhoea and ulcers in the mouths and noses. Rinderpest is spread between animals by direct contact and possibly aerosol over limited distances. The virus can be spread via secretions from the eyes, nose, or mouth, and the faeces, urine, blood, milk, or reproductive fluids of infected animals. Then, around 1600 BC, the plume of another Santorini eruption may have been responsible for the seventh, eighth and ninth plagues – the fiery hail, the locusts and the days of darkness. According to the archaeologist Charles Pellegrino, the Santorini eruptions would have been comparable with the Mount St Helens eruption of 1980 and this volcanic sandstorms driving locusts into Egypt. But plume coupled with high velocity dust “It is very easy to there are many problems with trying to storms could have rained down in Egypt, analyse historical events from thereby turning days into nights and dismiss the plagues contemporary records. Often it is difficult causing weather anomalies with to work out where or when they happened. increased precipitations and higher as a fable when In this instance, the period for the plagues humidity. It is possible that when the confronted with of Egypt is sometime between the years volcanic ash mixed with thunderstorms 1570 and 1440 BC, depending on who was above Egypt, it led to dramatic hailstorms. natural events” writing about them. Eusebius Pamphili This could have created the conditions (263-339 AD), the first Church historian, which caused the infamous desert locust were some children spared? There is a believed the specific date to be 1446 BC. (Schistocerca gregaria) to change from the similar historical precedent where ergot And yes, there were the Thera volcanic solitary to the more gregarious form, not fungi (Claviceps purpurea), infected rye eruptions in around 1630-1600 BC, one of only are they more sociable they change grain, and is believed to have precipitated which is described as the largest on record, in appearance, becoming stronger, darker the Salem witch trials in the winter of but it was 1,050 kilometres (650 miles) in colour and more mobile. They can 1692 where it may have been the cause for away from the northwest part of Egypt. swarm over long distances and, according the hallucinations, trances, seizures, and And the eruption was many years before to the United Nations Food and violent behaviours that were the the Exodus took place; the eruption would Agricultural Organization, when they get supposed signs of being a witch. Although only have caused some of the plagues, if hungry, a one-tonne horde of locusts can ergot did not cause death in the settlers, one or other of the dates is wrong. I am not eat the same amount of food in one day as it is unclear why it affected some people a theologian and rely on empirical 2,500 humans. Such a pestilence would and not others. A similar fungus could evidence to make decisions, but devour all the remaining plants that the have infected the Egyptian grain. occasionally there is a question where you hail did not destroy. ask: “What if?” Archaeologists have always believed Conclusions that the last plague, the death of Were the plagues an ecological Dr Stephen Mortlock is Pathology the firstborn male, was caused domino effect or divine Manager at the Nuffield Health Guildford by wheat infected with a intervention? It is very easy to Hospital. He would like to thank the matron fungus. But this seems dismiss the plagues as a fable and all the staff at Nuffield Health, unlikely, since infants died also when confronted with natural Guildford Hospital for their continued and they would probably not events such as volcanic support. To see the article with full have been eating grain. Also, why eruptions, thunder, and desert references, visit thebiomedicalscientist.net