The biblical story of the Ten Plagues of Egypt is at the heart of the origin of the Passover, which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. As described in the book of Exodus, these tribulations were a series of apocalyptic tribulations, a divine punishment for a pharaoh who was unwilling to release the Israelites.
While there is little archaeological and historical evidence to confirm the biblical account of the Ten Plagues, the existence of Moses, or the mass exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, scientists speculate that the chain reaction of a series of natural phenomena could explain the seemingly supernatural catastrophes depicted in the Bible.
A 2008 study in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine stated: "From a historical perspective, in addition to their patterns and rapid succession, the first nine disasters resemble well-known natural events in the Middle East." ”
According to the book of Exodus, the ten plagues of Egypt are released in the following order: 1. Water turns to blood 2, frogs 3, lice 4, flies 5, livestock plague 6, sores 7, hail 8, locusts 9, darkness 10, killing the firstborn.
An epic drought can lead to a plague
Archaeological excavations have shown that the ancient Egyptian capital of Pi-Ramses was abruptly abandoned during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II (1279 BC to 1213 BC), who some scholars believe to be the king of Egypt described in the Book of Exodus.
A study of stalagmites in Egyptian caves has found that this period coincided with a prolonged drought. Dr. Myers, founder of AccuWeather, said a prolonged drought could have triggered a series of natural disasters, as described in the Bible. "Once there are droughts and heat waves, everything changes, and when the climate changes, there is a series of disasters that affect each other. He said.
Climatologists believe that a severe drought upset the delicate ecological balance of the Nile Delta could explain the first plague in the Bible, when Moses and his brother Aaron turned Egypt's waterways into blood. According to biologist Stephen, the dry weather provided ideal conditions for tiny "Burgundy blood" algae to thrive in the slow-flowing warm waters of the Nile, and toxic freshwater algae may have killed fish and turned Egypt's rivers blood-red.
Algae blooms could starve the Nile of oxygen, triggering a series of five subsequent plagues matched by frogs, lice, flies, livestock plagues, and human-animal sores. Due to the lack of oxygen and the death of fish, frogs would flee their natural habitat and take over the homes of the Egyptians, eventually dying.
The disappearance of their natural predators can lead to a surge in insect populations, and a 1996 study by epidemiologist John speculated that the lice described in the Bible were actually cul midges, whose larvae feed on decaying animals such as fish and frogs, and are known to spread deadly infections to cattle, horses, and sheep.
Since the midges could not fly well, they probably did not reach the land of Goshen of the Israelites, leaving the Hebrews unaffected. John speculated that contaminated meat and flies may have transmitted gangreus, a highly contagious bacterial disease known to cause sores in humans and animals.
Myers said the drought could also be linked to the eighth plague, locusts, which are forced into the only remaining areas of vegetation due to dry weather, and when the rainy season arrives, crowded locusts can multiply at breakneck speeds, resulting in swarms of locusts that eat away at Egypt's crops.
"We have seen similar case records in the Middle East, and the United States in the 19th century also witnessed the devastation that locusts could cause. Myers said, noting that a square kilocust swarm could eat the equivalent of 35,000 people in a day.
Volcanic eruption theory
While proponents of the drought theory have linked the seventh and ninth plagues – fire, hail and dark days – to an unrelated dust storm, some scientists believe they may have been caused by a volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini, which was found near the site of Pi-Ramses, although the eruption occurred more than 500 miles away.
One of the most powerful eruptions in history spewed billions of tons of ash, possibly triggering violent thunderstorms that shaded the sun for days and created a humid environment conducive to locust breeding. Proponents of the volcanic theory also claim that acids in the volcanic ash, including cinnabar, may have turned the Nile a toxic red color and set off a chain reaction similar to what the drought theory assumes.
The eruption of Santorini is estimated to have occurred around 1620 BC, about 400 years before the reign of Ramses II, yet the biblical account of these disasters was written hundreds of years after the events described, and is not intended to be a historical record, possibly combining various natural disasters that spanned centuries.
The last calamity
The tenth and final plague in the book of Exodus was the death of Egypt's firstborn, and Myers speculated that a locust-induced famine could have caused the Egyptians to sacrifice their firstborn in a desperate attempt to appease the gods.
Another theory is that a series of plagues destroyed crops and allowed deadly molds to poison the food supply. In Egyptian society, the eldest son would be the first to eat, and they would be the first to die from contaminated food stored on the top floor of the granary.
According to the Bible, after the tenth plague took the life of Pharaoh's eldest son, Pharaoh granted the Israelites freedom, and when Pharaoh changed his mind and ordered his army to pursue him, Moses parted the Red Sea and the Israelites miraculously escaped.
Scholars speculate that the Israelis did not cross the present-day Red Sea, but rather through a series of shallow lakes known as the "Sea of Reeds," which once existed where the present-day Suez Canal is. While the drought may have dried up the swamp for the Israelis to pass through, another theory is that strong winds of more than 60 miles per hour may have pushed the lake, creating a makeshift land bridge that could be passed on foot, but closed by the time Pharaoh's chariot arrived.
"The probability is low, but I can imagine that there was some kind of wind that caused the standing waves in the lake," Myers said. "It may not be as dramatic as in the movie The Ten Commandments, but the effects of the weather may have caused the temporary separation and subsequent closing of the seas. ”
The biblical story of the Ten Plagues of Egypt describes a series of tribulations that are believed to be God's punishment for Pharaoh for not letting the Israelites free. While direct historical and archaeological evidence is lacking, scientists speculate that the ripple effects of a series of natural disasters could explain these seemingly supernatural disasters.