THE SANTORINI ERUPTION AND THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES

[Clio]

Fascinating!

*SNIP*

THE SANTORINI ERUPTION AND THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES

Medical Hypotheses. Article in Press, Corrected Proof

http://tinyurl.com/nhmkx

Six medical papyri describe the effects of Santorini's volcanic ash, and

provide Egyptian parallels to the so-called biblical plagues

Siro Igino Trevisanato,

11 Soho Street, Apt 202, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5T 3L7

Summary

Six medical papyri document how Santorini's volcanic ash from the Bronze Age

biphasic eruption, otherwise attested by material retrieved at the bottom of

lakes at the edge of the Nile Delta, severely affected the health of the

inhabitants of Egypt as well as their society as a whole. Treatments for burns caused by

particulate and dissolved acids are documented in the London Medical Papyrus as

well as in the Ebers Papyrus, and are compatible with ash fallout and ash in

rain, respectively. Furthermore, both instances of ash correlate to the first

eight biblical plagues. Moreover, the latter text also presents a series of

ailments coherent with serious inhalation of toxic substances in aerosol form. This

scenario is confirmed by the Hearst Medical Papyrus, the Carlsberg Papyrus 8,

and the Ramesseum Papyrus III, and fits a volcanic plume, which is also coherent

with the ninth biblical plague of palpable obscurity as well as Santorini's

second phase of its Bronze Age eruption. Finally, a sixth contemporary medical

text, the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, a manual to practice on wounded soldiers,

supplies an insight into the collapse of the sociopolitical system of the time.

The text appears to provide an insight into the sociopolitical climate in the

aftermath of the Santorini eruption, possibly describing conditions that would

have led to the tenth and final biblical plague of the massacre of firstborn as

well as the escape of slaves from local labor camps.

An eruption that changed history

The volcanic island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea erupted toward the middle of

the Bronze Age with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6, i.e., a magnitude

similar to the one that halved Krakatoa in 1883. Volcanologists reconstructed the

event as follows: at first powerful earthquakes took place for several years; the

eruption started when pinkish ash was ejected, a 2-24 month pause ensued, and a

final explosion of ash, bombs, lava and other material accompanied by powerful

tidal waves, followed [1], [2], [3] and [4].

The ash is mainly a mixture of two components, highly acidic sulfates and

natural glass. The glass was found at the bottom of the eastern Mediterranean,

Anatolia [5], as well as at the bottom of the Manzalah Lake adjacent to the Nile

Delta, and was dated to the 17th-16th centuries BC [6]. Given the magnitude of the

eruption, the copious amounts of ash would have affected humans, cattle, game,

harvests, etc. with negative repercussions both on health and the economy.

Writing was known in Egypt at the time, so where is the Egyptian documentation on

the matter?

The London Medical Papyrus treats burns from acids

Paragraph 55 of the London Medical Papyrus (L55), one of 23 treatments for

burns (L15-L21 and L46-L61) in the document [7] and [8], describes a lesion that

could not be treated by rinsing because of red waters, but needed a mixture of

alkaline materials, and, if left untreated, would generate larvae at a later

time. This implies that the burn was due to a caustic agent, derived from the red

waters, and its nature was acidic. The formation of larvae means that the

exposed skin had offered an hard-to-pass opportunity for insects to place their eggs.

The fallout from the initial pink ash from Santorini would have resulted in red

acidified waters useless to rinse burns because they themselves were causing

the burn [9].

Four additional paragraphs of the London Medical Papyrus confirm the presence

of patients suffering from volcanic fallout. Thus, burns in the desert caused by

means other than the sun rays (L46-L47) fit volcanic ash. Two more paragraphs

(L52 and L56) mention burns scattered on the body, a feature which would require

spraying. In pre-industrial times, the only sprays available would have come

from atmospheric dispersion, which is consistent with the fallout [10].

Additionally, L19 treats blisters alongside burns all over the body. While

these burns were scattered like those in L52 and L56, reflecting atmospheric

dispersion of the caustic agent, the formation of blisters indicates the agent was

present in a different physical form than as a particulate, and was probably

diluted in a liquid.

L19 is consistent with volcanic ash, which both falls out and disperses. The

latter forms a film that blocks the penetration of solar rays, triggering weather

anomalies such as more frequent precipitations [11]. The very first

precipitation after the eruption would have dissolved large amounts of the suspended ash,

resulting in a very acidic rainfall, explaining the differences between the

acidic burns in L19 and the other paragraphs discussed earlier.

Burns et al.

The L19 prescription also happens to exist as paragraph 549 of the Ebers

Papyrus (Eb. 549), the longest medical text from Ancient Egypt, which was completed

by 1550 BC [7] and [8].

Scanning the 879 remedies of the text, the Ebers Papyrus shows that the burn

treatment is not an isolated case of treatment of ailments compatible with

volcanic ash. In fact, 32% of the document deals with conditions compatible with

effects from volcanic ash: skin problems (Eb. 104-120), cough and asthma (Eb.

305-335), eye problems (Eb. 336-431), blisters on the head (Eb. 437-450), burns and

lesions (Eb. 482-542), issues to the bladder and the gastro-intestinal

apparatus (Eb. 543-602).

A similar picture emerges in the contemporary Hearst Medical Papyrus, which is

a general manual, and treats various ailments such as constipation, bones, and

bites [7] and [8]. However, it holds numerous treatments for burns, lungs,

nausea, and headaches, all issues coherent with the aftermath of volcanic ash.

To this list of texts can be added two texts focusing on ophthalmology. The

Carlsberg Papyrus 8 only covers two topics, gynecology and ophthalmology. The

latter remedies are almost word for word duplicates of eye remedies in the Ebers

Papyrus [7] and [8], thus reflecting the same source. The Ramesseum Papyrus III,

finalized before 1567 BC, reports 40 remedies. Thereof 15 remedies treat eyes

and 4 treat burns [7] and [8], i.e., close to 48% of the text treated ailments

attributable to the effects of volcanic ash. Among these remedies, in spite of

the poor state of conservation of the document, it is possible to read details

relative to acids affecting the eyes. The remedy numbered RIII A 17-19

prescribes urine, an alkaline liquid, on eyelids. Moreover, the two remedies numbered

RIII A 19-20, and RIII A 25-26, prescribe djaret plant extract for eyelids.

Although the identity of the plant is uncertain, its extract is mentioned in the

treatment of burns caused by acids in the aforementioned L46, L52, and L56 of the

London Medical Papyrus, singling out an acidic, rather than viral or bacterial,

insult to the eyelids.

A medical papyrus testifies to the sociopolitical chaos from the ash

Large natural disasters often result in destabilization of sociopolitical

systems. One such instance is known from the military break up of the northeastern

Nile Delta in the aftermath of a deadly epidemic around 1715 BC [12]. The

effects of the Santorini ash on harvests and other sources of food would have led to

mayhem across the areas affected, which find circumstantial confirmation in a

medical document of the time.

The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus only survived in a truncated form, listing 48

cases of wounds [7] and [8]. They befit a military surgeon rather than any

other surgeon. Even surgical interventions such as the treatment of tumors (except

for case 45) deal with wounds rather than cancer: the areas were characterized

by redness, pus, and caused fever. Rather than cases of cancer, these tumors

are coherent with wounds that got infected, most likely during combat, in full

coherence with the rest of the manual.

It is therefore fair to state that this text documents riots and/or a civil

war. In other words the ash unleashed the most extreme form of sociopolitical

chaos, and contributed to a climate of despair after the destructions operated by

the effects of the first and second eruptive phases from the Santorini volcanic

event.

Evidence for the biblical plagues of Egypt from the six medical papyri

Medical documents testify to the medical needs of the inhabitants of Egypt

towards the end of the Middle Bronze Age, reflecting the effects of Santorini's

ash.

The London Medical Papyrus and the Ebers Papyrus detail two separate species of

burns. One is coherent with fallout of acid particles, the best examples in

pre-industrial times coming from volcanic ash. The other burn is better explained

by precipitation of diluted acids, the best examples in pre-industrial times

coming from acid rain that would have dissolved acid particles suspended in the

air, and which would have triggered weather anomalies.

The presence of volcanic ash both in particulate and dissolved form is

re-echoed in the biblical narrative of the first eight plagues of Egypt (Ex.7:14-12:30)

[13]. The fall out would have dyed the Nile, killing the fish, and turning

people away from drinking those waters (Ex.7:14-24) [13]. The ash would also

explain the next plague of large numbers of frogs that ended up dying on the river

banks (Ex.7:28-8:10) [13]: a Nile contaminated with ash would have pushed the

amphibians onto the banks, where they would have died dehydrated, unable to

re-enter the water [9]. The flesh of the dead animals and the lesions in the live

humans and animals would have attracted insects, resulting in larvae (also

mentioned in L55), and thereafter adult insects, which is consistent with the third

and fourth biblical plagues of crawling invertebrates followed by swarms of

various adult insects (Ex.8:12-20) [13].

Moreover, weather anomalies triggered by ash particles forming a film in the

atmosphere explain the subsequent four plagues. Herbivores died in the fifth

plague (Ex.9:1-7) [13], which fits with grazing animals hit by lightning in a freak

storm, and/or eating grass contaminated by sulfates. The chemical would have

been readily absorbed by the animals because, unlike ash in particulate form, it

would have been dissolved in the rain drops. Humans and animals of the sixth

plague covered in boils (Ex.9:8-12) [13] make sense in light of the acid rain to

which they would have been exposed. The hail of the seventh plague (Ex.9:13-35)

[13] is consistent with these weather anomalies. As for the locusts of the

eighth plague (Ex.10:1-19) [13], higher humidity, which is the case since

precipitations were more frequent, triggers these insects to multiply [14].

The Ebers Papyrus, the Hearst Medical Papyrus, the Carlsberg Papyrus 8, and the

Ramesseum Papyrus III, list additional tissues. Of particular interest, given

the aforementioned match with the biblical plagues, are the eyes: the ninth

plague speaks of a palpable obscurity lasting several days (Ex.10:21-23) [13]. A

volcanic plume of gas and ash investing a site and its inhabitants provides the

simplest and thus, in light of Ockham's razor, most plausible, explanation in

pre-industrial times. This smoke would have obscured the sky and been palpable

because of the ash component. It would have also affected, primarily, the eyes,

causing much more serious damage to them than the earlier ash fallout, and acid

rain.

Finally, a climate of despair transpires from the massive medical problems, and

from the sociopolitical chaos as attested by the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus.

This climate may well be linked to the tenth and last biblical plague of the

massacre of the firstborn, and may have also facilitated the escape of the

Hebrews as indicated by the biblical narrative (Ex.12:29-39) [13].

FULL PAPER at http://tinyurl.com/nhmkx

[Gerr]

Strange that it would only affect the Egyptian firstborn and their drinking water but not that of the Hebrews!

Gerry

[Clio]

I'm not doubting the Bible's side of the story, Gerry. Here's the other side of the argument from the Cambridge Conference Network...

And besides... who says Abba can't use a volcano? It would be even more of a miracle if it did affect only Egyptian's drinking water... don't you think?

(10) RAMSES II - PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS?

Michael Martin-Smith

Dear Benny,

The recent papers from olive branch data demonstrating that the Santorini

eruption in the Aegean occurred conclusively between 1627 and 1600 BC pose an

interesting conundrum

If it be accepted that this eruption grossly "disturbed" the world of the

Middle Kingdom Egyptians, Minoans, et al ( as it surely must have done!) the linkage

of the phenomena described in the Book of Exodus with this catastrophe seems

eminently reasonable.

However, there is considerable agreement among Biblical scholars that these

same events occurred in the Reign of the Pharaoh Ramses the Second - or Great ,

and that the Biblical labours suffered by the Hebrew slaves built the cities

of Pi-Ramses and Pithom, in the Avaris region of the Nile Delta. Indeed, some of

these same scholars and archeologists go on to state that the Pharaoh who lost

his life and army at the " Reed Sea" crossing was Ramses' eldest son and acting

Commander in Chief of the Army, the 30 years old Amun Her-Khepeshef - whose

mummy shows head injuries consistent with battle trauma ( rather than the

traditionally favoured 13th son and successor, Merneptah . His death led to a more

statesmanlike and peaceful Ramses the Second, on whose son and successor

Merneptah's stele, thereafter, the name "Israelite" appears for the first time.

The reign of Ramses the Second is firmly placed in the 13 century BC (1279-1213

BCE) - ie a clear 3.5-4 centuries AFTER the Santorini eruption. It is

difficult to think that the wellknown temporal "telescoping" effect can take care of

this discrepancy, and so we must conclude that either the linkage of Santorini to

Exodus , or the tradition of Ramses the Second and sons as the Pharaoh(s) of

the Exodus, is wrong.

This is a pity, since the two tales taken together would have made for a very

neat narrative!

If Santorini was not the causative event, the enormous question of what the

actual disaster was hangs over the story of Exodus - conversely, if Ramses the

Great and Amun her Khepeshef were not the prime actors on the Egyptian side in

the Exodus - which obscure Middle Kingdom Pharaoh has escaped attribution these

past 3 three and a half millennia?

A nice little puzzle!

Michael Martin-Smith

P.S. To answer, potentially , one half of my conundrum... If Exodus and

Santorini were linked, between 1627-1600 BCE, this falls within the early Hyksos

period following the collapse of the Middle Kingdom in the year 1640 BCE. This

period is much more turbulent and obscure than the time of Ramses the Great and

so to suggest that the Santorini events actually hastened the collapse of the

Middle Kingdom and laid the gates of Egypt open for Asiatic Hyksos invaders is

not too, great a stretch. 13 years after all is easier to "lose" than 350-400!!

Certainly a new Hyksos ruler from Asia would have " not known" Egypt and its

slaves as well as Ramses would have done!

He would also qualify as an obscure, even perhaps nameless, ruler; but in those

turbulent times, as a hated invader, would he have felt able to enslave a

multitude and build great cities named, moreover, Pi Ramses and Pithom?