The Plagues of Exodus
Scientific Theories for Egypt’s Historic Disasters
J. Y. Gao
BIBLICAL MIRACLES HAVE LONG BEEN HELD AS PROOF OF GOD’S DIVINE INTERVENTION ON EARTH—THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT ARE PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS EXAMPLES OF GOD’S SHOWCASE OF POWER. These miracles would have been negligible and insignificant to atheists and a secularising world were it not for their historical accuracy. It is precisely a repeated uncovering of archeological evidence aligning with biblical stories that have kept both the secular double-guessing, and the religious looking to reaffirm their faith.
In light of growing scientific capacity, alternate narratives that explain these miracles have been formed; this article will explore the specific plagues of Egypt, and offer a secondary voice to the dominant Christian narrative.
Tectonic movements around Egypt have long been under the study of geologists and archeologists alike, and may provide the catalyst, a starting point, for a scientific explanation of the ten plagues.
First Plague: River to Blood
In 1984 and 1986, two lakes in Cameroon, Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos respectively, turned red. Due to a shift in tectonic plates, gas pockets trapped in the ground caused high concentrations of dissolved iron near the bottom of the lake to mix up to the surface. When the iron came in contact with the oxygen at the surface, a reaction formed iron hydroxide (rust), leading to the redness of the lakes. Water becomes devoid of oxygen and filled with carbon dioxide, meaning all living things die. Fish, as a result, float to the surface and rot in the sun, as described in the Bible. This could provide an alternate explanation to the bloodied Nile of Exodus; if so, this event would set in motion a chain of events similar to that of the Bible.
Another explanation posits that the red appearance may have been caused by a red algae bloom, which contains a toxin that accumulates in shellfish, poisoning animals that feed on them and passing the effect up the food chain.
Greta Hort, a Danish scholar, proposed the redness to be an effect of particles of soil suspended in water during the Nile’s annual rise in July. Millions of organisms called flagellates, originating from Ethiopia, may have caused the water to lose oxygen, resulting in the death of fish.
Second Plague: Frogs
An alternative explanation for the second plague, the infestation of frogs, could be related to environmental changes that made the river uninhabitable. Frogs, being amphibious creatures, would have left the water to seek a more suitable environment. This phenomenon is not unique to Egypt and has been observed in various locations, where “raining frogs” have been reported during tornadoes and waterspouts.
Third, Fourth, Fifth Plagues: Lice, Flies and Bacteria
The lack of clean water resulting from the first two plagues might have led to the infestation of lice, flies, and bacterial epidemics among humans and animals. Historical records indicate that outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as Rinderpest, have caused significant animal mortality in the past. These factors could provide a scientific basis for the description of the third, fourth, and fifth plagues. The New York Times reported this disease to have spread through Asia and reached Africa 5,000 years ago.
Sixth Plague: Boils
The boils described in the sixth plague could be explained by the presence of stable flies carrying anthrax. An article published in the National Library of Medicine explains that “Anthrax…affects animals and humans, inducing pulmonary, gastro-intestinal, or cutaneous symptoms, including a boil-like skin lesion. . . . Outbreaks are most common in areas characterised by alkaline, calcareous soil, and in warm environments with periodic episodes of flooding.” Another possibility asserts that the boils may have been caused by the increased carbon dioxide in the air caused by the gas leaks, which reduces circulation to the skin.
Seventh Plague: Hail
The volcanic island, Santorini, north of Crete in the Aegean Sea, erupted 3,500 years ago. The Institute for Atmospheric Physics in Germany proposed that the volcanic ash may have mixed with the thunderstorms above Egypt, resulting in an image of fiery hail depicted in the Bible. World History Documentaries explained that small fragments of ash may have formed a nucleus that resembles hail.
Eighth Plague: Locusts
Siro Trvisanato, a molecular biologist, suggests that the weather disturbances resulted in higher precipitation and humidity. World History Documentaries offer a similar explanation: a disturbance in weather caused locusts, common in that part of the world, to land. Rising temperatures after the hailstorm may have caused temperatures to rise, and locusts to rise with it.
Ninth Plague: Darkness
The giant ash cloud of Santorini’s eruption, measuring 40 km high and 200 km across, would have made its way to Egypt and engulfed the people in “palpable darkness” (Exodus 10:21—Majority Standard Bible translation). Professor Jean Stanley of the Smithsonian Institute discovered Santorini ash in the Nile Delta.
Tenth Plague: Killing of Firstborns
At Lake Nyos in 1986, after it had turned red, 1,800 villagers were found dead, having shown no signs of struggle. The carbon dioxide buildup in the lake had swept across the ground, being heavier than air, and suffocated the population in their sleep. A similar event may have happened in Egypt. It was tradition that firstborns slept on low beds close to the ground, whilst their other siblings slept on balconies and rooftops. At the same time, the Israelites, sitting up at their first Passover meal, did not feel a thing.
An article published in the Clinical Microbiology Review reveals the algae bloom proposed earlier releases mycotoxins which are poisonous to humans. Moreover, grain contaminated with these mycotoxins may have caused many firstborns to die early, as firstborns might have been the first to pick the grain.