He believes that, amid all this destruction, firstborn children could have been sacrificed out of desperation, in the hopes that such a meaningful sacrifice would lead their gods to stop punishing them. Trevisanato also found an ancient Egyptian account of the children of aristocrats lying dead in public and archaeological data matching the account. Volcanic eruptions could also explain the several days of darkness - which means nine plagues are accounted for. The humidity from the rain and the subsequent hail would have created optimal conditions for locusts to thrive. The grass would have been contaminated, poisoning the animals that ate it. Then, the volcanic ash in the atmosphere would have affected the weather, with acid rain landing on people’s skin, which in turn caused boils. Insects would have burrowed eggs in the bodies of dead animals and human survivors, which generated larvae and then adult insects. The accumulated acidity in the water would have caused frogs to leap out and search for clean water.
Winds would have carried the volcanic ash to Egypt at some point over the summer, and the toxic acids in the volcanic ash would have included the mineral cinnabar, which could have been capable of turning a river a blood-like red color, Trevisanato holds. Microbiologist Siro Trevisanato, author of The Plagues of Egypt: Archaeology, History and Science Look at the Bible, argues that ancient Egyptian medical texts support this idea. This theory argues that the plagues were really the fallout of volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini in the south of Greece around 1620-1600 BCE. Here are three of the major theories to know. The ten plagues are no exception, and over the years scientists have been curious about whether the story of the plagues may have been based on some event that can be proved to have happened. Some scholars believe he is Ramesses II.The question of whether Bible stories can be linked to archaeological discoveries is one that has long fascinated scholars. The Exodus tells us The old Pharaoh had a daughter (Bithia) and a son with a name unknown. Not much is known about the Pharaoh's life. While even the midwives are named and remembered for their work in not killing babies on the Pharaoh's command, the Pharaoh is an anonymous figure. Interestingly, while the Torah treats names of people and places as important, the Pharaoh at the time of the exodus from Egypt is never named. But a Midrash states that Pharaoh actually lived, and became a wandering storyteller. Pharaoh drowned with his army leaving Moses and the Hebrews safe. The Hebrews followed Moses and so did Pharaoh, but Moses stretched his hand and the water poured down on Pharaoh his army and horses. Cornered, Moses stretched his hand over the red sea and the sea parted making a path. The Pharaoh of the Exodus was not ready to give up yet. That night G-d himself killed every Egyptian firstborn. G-d sent ten plagues to Egypt: First blood, then Frogs, Lice, Wild Beasts, Domesticated animal plague, Boils, Meteorites of Ice and Fire, Dark Fog, and the last plague was the Death of a Firstborn. Moses kept telling Pharaoh that G-d wanted Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go. The new pharaoh was with his wife and child sitting on the throne. In the end the old pharaoh died and his son (Moses' foster brother) became king.įorty years later G-d called Moses. at adulthood Moses had to flee because Moses killed a guard an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Moses grew up as the brother to the next pharaoh. She called the baby Moses and raised him in the palace. The princess felt sorry for the baby So Bithiah brought the baby back to the palace. Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah was bathing in the river when she found the child. Ī son born to an Israelite family was set adrift in a basket to be saved from Pharaoh's decree. Since the Pharaoh who ruled during the Exodus drowned in the sea while pursuing the Israelites, there was no funeral procession for Menkaure. There was a funeral procession where the body of the dead Pharaoh would be brought by boat to its final resting place.