Pharaonic Egypt and the origins of plague

The origins and dispersal of epidemic diseases have been the subject of much speculation (e.g. Zinsser, 1935; Brothwell & Sandison, 1967; McNeill, 1977; McKeown, 1988; Nikiforuk, 1991). Whilst the archaeological excavation of multiple apparently contemporary burials in pits may provide at the least circumstantial evidence for the occurrence of mass death by disease, most infections leave no specific trace upon the bones, and the causes of death cannot be established. Mummification, however, may lead to the preservation of evidence for diseases that otherwise leave no trace. Smallpox, tuberculosis, malaria, poliomyelitis and schistosomiasis have been noted from individual Egyptian mummies (Contis & David, 1996; Sandison & Tapp, 1998). Where contemporary written accounts exist, interpretation of the sources is often difficult. Procopius’ (1914) description of the 6th century Justinian epidemic in the Eastern Mediterranean is usually regarded as sufficiently detailed to enable the identification of bubonic plague, at least in Constantinople (for popular Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK