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Cyprian Plague Victims Unearthed In Egypt: Burnt Corpses Reveal A 3rd Century Burial Plot Built To 'prevent The Apocalypse'

Italian archaeologists have revealed an ancient burial plot in Luxor, Egypt

The 3rd century tomb was used to stop the deadly spread of a pandemic

The Cyprian Plague killed 5,000 people a day at its peak from 250 to 271 AD

The disease was believed to be smallpox, which was eradicated in 1979

At the time, St Cyprian said it could signal the 'passing away of the world'

By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Published: 08:23 EDT, 17 June 2014Updated: 12:09 EDT, 17 June 2014

From 250 to 271 AD up to 5,000 people died each day in Rome not from war and famine, but from a deadly pandemic that would later be known as the Plague of Cyprian.

And now archaeologists have found the remains of what appears to be victims of the widespread disease, in a pit in Luxor, Egypt.

Kilns used to produce lime to cover the victims were also found, alongside a bonfire where stricken people were burned in order to stop the spread of the highly infectious disease, dubbed the 'end of worlds' pandemic.

Archaeologists in Egypt have found the remains of victims that were struck down by the Plague pf Cyprian in the latter half of the 3rd century. The victims were burned and covered in lime to prevent the deadly disease from spreading. Here can be seen two skulls, two bricks and a jug at the burial site

The find was made by the Italian Archaeological Mission to Luxor (MAIL) team, reported Live Science.

WHAT WAS SMALLPOX?

Smallpox was an ancient disease caused by the variola virus that resulted in a nasty rash where lesions were filled with fluid and pus.

The highly contagious disease was fatal in up to 30 per cent of cases.

It spread through contact between people and saliva droplets in an infected person's breath.

More than 300 million people died from smallpox in the 20th century alone.

But vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries ultimately led to its eradication in 1979.

It is one of only two infectious diseases to have been completely destroyed, the other being rinderpest in 2011.

The eradication of smallpox is regarded as one of humanity's greatest accomplishments.

SOURCE: WHO

The team, led by Francesco Tiradritti, excavated the tomb, known as the Funerary Complex of Harwa and Akhimenru, from 1997 until 2012.

The monument had been built for an Egyptian grand steward named Harwa in the 7th century BC and it was continually used until it became a plague-burial site in the 3rd Century AD - and was then never used again.

Writing in the Egyptian Archaeology magazine, Tiradritti said using the tomb to dispose of infected corpses 'gave the monument a lasting bad reputation and doomed it to centuries of oblivion until tomb robbers entered the complex in the early 19th century.'

The Plague of Cyprian raged until 271, by which time it claimed a quarter of Rome's population - and countless lives elsewhere.

It spread across what is now modern-day Europe and into Africa.

Now believed to have been caused by smallpox, the plague was so devastating that it led the bishop of Carthage at the time, Saint Cyprian for whom the pandemic is named, to lament that it could signal the 'passing away of the world'.

The find was made at a funerary complex, or tomb, in Luxor, Egypt. In the time of the Romans this city was known as Thebes and, from 250 to 271 AD it, like many other regions, was ravaged by smallpox in a pandemic that is now called the Plague of Cyprian

The kilns to produce lime to cover the bodies were fuelled by the remains of old wooden coffins, such as the one shown here. The find was made by the Italian Archaeological Mission to Luxor (MAIL) team after 15 years of excavations from 1997 to 2012

Oil lamps discovered near the lime kilns, shown here, were used by the stokers who kept the kilns burning to see in the dark. Stokers would have had to keep the kilns burning around the clock for several days in order to produce the lime necessary to cover the bodies

Of the plague, Cyprian explained the rather gruesome ways it would ravage its victims in his essay De mortalitate (On the plague).

'The intestines are shaken with a continual vomiting' and 'the eyes are on fire with the ejected blood,' it read.

In some cases victims would also lose limbs to the disease, while many also eventually died.

The remarkable artefacts found by the archaeologists show the level of fear and panic the plague induced in the locals.

This best disinfectant known at the time was lime, which involved heating limestone to huge temperatures of up to 1,000°C (1,800°F).

The large temperatures, though, required huge amounts of fuel, and in order to produce enough lime to cover all the bodies it seems the locals at the time used coffins, and other artefacts, they found in this tomb to burn.

Bodies were covered with a layer of lime, used as a disinfectant, and kept inside a pillared hallway shown at 1. The three kilns are shown at A, B and C, in part fuelled by both coffin and mummy remains stored at 4. Water was added to the lime at niche 3, while the bonfire to burn the bodies is at 2

Here can be seen a close-up view of lime kiln C, which has a double chamber. It was built along with the other two kilns in order to produce enough lime disinfectant to cover the multitude of human remains that had died in the plague that struck the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor

Seen here is the location where bodies were stored on the northern aisle of the monument's first pillared hall and covered with lime. The Plague of Cyprian raged until 2071, by which time it claimed a quarter of Rome's population

At the time of the outbreak, it was said people were quick to turn over their friends and even family to the authorities in the hope they could avoid the deadly plague themselves.

The streets were strewn with carcasses, many of which were burned to try and destroy the disease.

In 270 the pandemic claimed the life of emperor Claudius II Gothicus and is thought by some to have contributed to the eventual fall of the Roman Empire.

There are many other incidents of smallpox breaking out around the world through human history, until the deadly disease was eradicated in 1979 after a widespread vaccination campaign.

This area was used to 'slake', or add water to, the lime. The lime production capabilities show just how fearful the locals were of the disease. Now believed to have been caused by smallpox, the plague was so devastating that it led Saint Cyprian to lament that it could signal the 'passing away of the world'

Before becoming a burial chamber for those killed by the Plague of Cyprian, the funerary had been built for an Egyptian grand steward named Harwa in the 7th century BC. Shown here is a grey fragment of decoration from within the monument found inside of the lime kilns

It seems when it came to disposing of the plague victims the 3rd century Egyptians did not hold back in desecrating previous burials and tombs in their panic. Here is seen the face of a second century coffin that was stored as fuel in the entrance of the monument

The Plagues Scour Egypt's Sins

Candlelighting, Readings:Shabbat candles: 4:34 p.M.Torah reading: Exodus 6:2-9:35Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25-29:21Sabbath ends: 5:37 p.M.

How could Pharaoh be punished with the plagues if his heart was "hardened," or "strengthened," by God, restricting Pharaoh's free will? The question can be answered if we examine certain concepts about Heavenly punishment. Punishment is not so much retribution but a cleansing, removing any stains and damage from a person's soul. The Ten Plagues were meant to cleanse the Egyptians from their collective actions against the Israelites.The Izbitzer, in "Mei Shiloah," links the sins and the plagues. The plague of blood was to rectify the Egyptians' hatred. The Izbitzer, cites The Book of Proverbs, where "causing discord among brothers," or expressions of anger and hatred, is seen as leading to the spilling of blood. The Izbitzer stresses that hatred is what keeps one farthest from God.Among the other sinful characteristics mentioned in Proverbs that were tied by the Izbitzer to the plagues are: "a false witness" (corresponding to frogs puffing themselves up); "legs hastening to do evil" (corresponding to lice, small but rapid); and "a heart which devises evil imaginations" (corresponding to wild beasts).Part of the social glue of Egyptian society was its obsession with status; at the lowest rung were the Israelites, at the very top was Pharaoh, worshipped as a god. Pharaoh's sense of self-importance, and his cult, was not shaken until the drowning at the Red Sea. Contrast Pharaoh with Moses, described by Torah as the most humble person, and the most faithful servant of God. When God tells Moses to inform Pharaoh that He will slay the Egyptian first-born "at about midnight," Rashi asks, couldn't God have done so at precisely midnight? Of course He could, and it was exactly at midnight that it did occur. But God did not want to give the Egyptians the opportunity to claim that the deaths did not happen exactly at midnight, and so God did not fulfill His promise. God expected the Egyptians would miscalculate and misrepresent the time, revealing a pettiness and contempt that touched the roots of their souls — and, with Pharaoh, touching the heights of Egyptian society.

This contempt was so deep inside Pharaoh and his countrymen that they still didn't quite "get it" after the Ten Plagues. They still needed one more miracle and punishment — the opening of the sea and the drowning of Pharaoh's army — to cleanse them to the point that they could acknowledge that it is God who controls nature and is defending the Israelites. This was one reason why Pharaoh's heart was "hardened" during the plagues. Pharaoh could have been forced to let the Israelites go after the earlier plagues but he would have deluded himself into thinking that it was he who controlled the situation. Pharaoh had yet to realize what Moses knew, that it is God who ruled the world not him.There is a Midrash that Pharaoh didn't die at the Red Sea but that God allowed him to become the king of Assyria. When Jonah gave his prophecy that Nineveh, the Assyrian city, would be destroyed, it was the Assyrian king (Pharaoh?) who gets the Assyrians to repent, averting the decree. As per the saying, "God sends the cure before he sends the disease," another Assyrian king might not have believed Jonah's warning. Pharaoh's experience, however, was that God does withhold punishment; whenever Pharaoh said the Israelites could leave, the plague would cease. Perhaps God wanted a king over Assyria whose experience could induce his people's repentance.

This week's sedra, Va'eira, and next week's sedra, Bo, are always read just before Tu b'Shvat, the time when the trees in the Land of Israel begin to blossom. These weeks are an appropriate time to read of our leaving Egypt, for that was the blossoming of our spirituality's potential. In the story of the Exodus, of which this week's sedra is one part, God raises us from nothing to the heights, and for that he deserves our never-ending praise and allegiance, every day and again at the seder. N Rabbi Daniel Fliegler is a chaplain at the Regeis Care Center in the Bronx.

The Prince Of Egypt: Official Clip - The 10 Plagues

The Prince of Egypt: Official Clip - The 10 Plagues - Trailers & VideosRotten Tomatoes

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