Original subtitles

THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT.

WITH RIVERS OF BLOOD AND PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS,

IT'S A TALE SO BLOODY

AND SO BIZARRE,

IT SEEMED THE EVENTS DESCRIBED COULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED.

BUT NOW,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE UNEARTHING SHOCKING NEW DISCOVERIES.

THEY DIED PERHAPS EVEN IN THE COURSE OF A SINGLE DAY.

AND SCIENTISTS ARE PIECING TOGETHER

INTRIGUING NEW EVIDENCE...

IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD.

THAT MAY FINALLY REVEAL

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LEGEND--

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED,

WHY IT HAPPENED,

AND, MOST INCREDIBLY OF ALL,

WHEN.

WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR

THAT WE HAD A DIRECT AND PRECISE DATE,

THAT WAS A GREAT, GREAT MOMENT.

IF THEY'RE RIGHT,

IF THEY CAN PUT A DATE TO THE STORY OF THE TEN PLAGUES,

OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE

AND OF 3,000 YEARS OF HISTORY

WILL CHANGE FOREVER.

THE RELICS OF THE PAST HOLD SECRETS...

WRITTEN IN GOLD, STONE, AND BLOOD.

WE CAN UNLOCK THEM.

THESE ARE THE SECRETS OF HISTORY'S GREATEST TREASURES.

IN THE BIBLE'S BOOK OF EXODUS,

A TYRANNICAL PHARAOH

HOLDS A VAST ARMY OF ISRAELITE SLAVES CAPTIVE.

GOD ORDERS MOSES TO WARN

THAT TEN PLAGUES WILL SWEEP ACROSS EGYPT

UNLESS THE SLAVES ARE RELEASED.

Christopher Naunton: IT'S SET IN ONE OF THE MOST

CAPTIVATING TIMES SINCE HISTORY BEGAN,

AN EPIC TALE OF A PEOPLE OPPRESSED

BY A TYRANNICAL PHARAOH.

THE PHARAOH REFUSES TO RELEASE THE CAPTIVES,

SO MOSES ENACTS GOD'S APOCALYPTIC FIRST DECREE.

HE TURNS THE RIVER NILE INTO A TORRENT OF BLOOD.

BUT THE PHARAOH WON'T GIVE IN.

ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE,

GOD SENDS PLAGUES OF FROGS AND SWARMS OF FLIES.

DISEASE STRIKES DOWN THE LIVESTOCK,

AND BOILS BLIGHT THE PEOPLE,

THUNDERSTORMS BRING HAIL AND FIRE,

HORDES OF LOCUSTS DEVASTATE CROPS,

THREE DAYS OF DARKNESS DESCEND ACROSS EGYPT.

AND STILL, THE PHARAOH REFUSES TO RELEASE THE CAPTIVES,

UNTIL THE TENTH AND CRUELEST PLAGUE OF ALL--

THE DEATH OF ALL THE FIRST BORN.

Man reading: THUS SAYETH THE LORD,

ALL THE FIRST BORN IN THE LAND OF EGYPT SHALL DIE,

AND THERE SHALL BE A GREAT CRY

THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT.

WITH HIS EMPIRE AND PEOPLE IN RUINS,

THE PHARAOH FINALLY RELENTS,

RELEASING THE CAPTIVES

AND TRIGGERING THE FAMED EXODUS OF THE ISRAELITES

TO THE PROMISED LAND.

IT'S ONE OF THE GREATEST AND STRANGEST STORIES EVER TOLD.

BUT NOW EXPERTS ARE UNCOVERING SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE

THAT MAY PROVE THESE EVENTS WERE REAL.

Barbara Sivertsen: WHAT FASCINATES ME MOST

ABOUT THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLAGUES

IS THAT THEY CAN BE RELATED TO NATURAL PHENOMENA,

THAT THEY'RE NOT JUST SOME STRANGE THING

THAT SOMEBODY MAY HAVE INVENTED, AND IT'S NOT MAGIC.

IF THE TEN PLAGUES WERE REAL, NATURAL PHENOMENA,

SURELY THEY'D HAVE BEEN RECORDED IN ONE OF ANCIENT EGYPT'S

MANY THOUSANDS OF INSCRIPTIONS AND DOCUMENTS.

BUT NO TRACE HAS EVER BEEN FOUND...

UNTIL NOW.

THE COLOSSAL KARNAK TEMPLE OF LUXOR.

ANCIENT EGYPT'S GREATEST RELIGIOUS MONUMENT.

HERE, ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE MADE AN EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY

THAT MAY BE THE MISSING EVIDENCE

THAT PROVES THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES WERE REAL EVENTS,

THAT SUGGESTS A CAUSE FOR ALL TEN OF THE PLAGUES,

AND THAT COULD EVEN PROVIDE A DATE.

AMONG THESE SPECTACULAR RUINS

ONCE LAY A 6-FOOT-TALL INSCRIBED STONE TABLET

CALLED A STELE.

IT DATES FROM THE TIME OF PHARAOH AHMOSE I,

WHO RULED EGYPT 3,500 YEARS AGO.

THE STELE WAS UNEARTHED IN 1947,

AND IT'S BEEN IN STORAGE EVER SINCE.

BUT IN 2014, ARCHAEOLOGIST NADINE MOELLER

TOOK A FRESH LOOK AT THIS LONG-FORGOTTEN ARTIFACT.

Nadine Moeller: THIS IS THE PLACE

WHERE THE VARIOUS FRAGMENTS OF THE AHMOSE TEMPEST STELE

WERE ACTUALLY DISCOVERED.

AND THE STELE WAS FOUND IN MULTIPLE PIECES.

SINCE ITS DISCOVERY 70 YEARS AGO,

THE STELE HAS BEEN BELIEVED TO BE AN ACCOUNT OF A BATTLE.

BUT MOELLER AND HER COLLEAGUE, EGYPTOLOGIST DR. ROBERT RITNER,

DECIDED TO INVESTIGATE FOR THEMSELVES.

WHAT THEY DISCOVERED REWRITES THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

AND COULD HELP SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE BIBLE'S TEN PLAGUES,

BECAUSE THIS ISN'T THE STORY OF A BATTLE.

IT'S SOMETHING MORE UNUSUAL AND MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT.

Robert Ritner: MANY OF THE TERMS THAT ARE USED IN THIS TEXT

SEEM AT FIRST SIGHT

TO BE THOSE OF A MILITARY ACTION.

BUT ANCIENT EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS ARE COMPLEX.

ONE WORD CAN HAVE MULTIPLE MEANINGS,

DEPENDING ON ITS CONTEXT.

IN THE EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE,

THE WORD FOR "RAIN" IS "TO HIT,"

AND YOU FOLLOW THAT WITH A SIGN GIVING THE RANGE OF MEANING,

AND YOU PUT A WATER SIGN.

"HIT" BECOMES "RAIN."

SO THIS IS NOT AN ARMY SMITING ANOTHER ARMY.

IT IS RAIN HITTING THE GROUND,

HITTING PEOPLE, HITTING BUILDINGS.

ACCORDING TO THIS NEW TRANSLATION,

THE STELE IS A FACTUAL ACCOUNT OF AN APOCALYPTIC STORM.

A STORM THAT TORE DOWN HOUSES AND TEMPLES,

SWEPT AWAY VILLAGES,

AND LEFT A TRAIL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION ACROSS EGYPT.

YOU GET REFERENCES TO RAGING.

THIS IS NOT ARMIES RAGING OR MILITARY RULERS RAGING.

IT INDICATES A STORM,

SO THIS IS AN ACTUAL STORM.

TO RITNER AND MOELLER,

A TERRIFYING STORM STRUCK EGYPT 3,500 YEARS AGO.

WE HAVE A VIOLENT STORM WITH A LOT OF WATER,

THERE'S DESTRUCTION, THERE ARE DEAD PEOPLE...

THERE IS DARKNESS,

DARKNESS THAT COVERED THE WHOLE LAND OF EGYPT.

WE ALSO KNOW ABOUT NOISE,

JUST A DEAFENING NOISE.

THE STELE IS THE WORLD'S OLDEST WEATHER REPORT

AND A UNIQUE ACCOUNT OF AN UNPRECEDENTED EVENT.

AND ALL THIS IS EXTREMELY UNUSUAL.

THERE'S NO OTHER TEXT WE KNOW FROM ANCIENT EGYPT

THAT ACTUALLY DESCRIBES SUCH AN EVENT IN THIS WAY.

ALL OF THESE MENTIONS

OF THE DETAILED DAMAGE, DESTRUCTION,

AND NECESSARY RECONSTRUCTION

ARE SIMPLY FAR TOO ELABORATE

FOR WHAT YOU WOULD FIND IN A MYTHOLOGICAL TALE,

IN A METAPHORICAL TALE.

SO IT STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE IDEA THAT THIS IS A REAL EVENT.

AND THIS EVENT IS STRIKINGLY SIMILAR

THE PLAGUES OF THUNDER AND HAIL...

AND OF DARKNESS.

Man reading: THE LORD SENT THUNDER AND HAIL,

AND THE FIRE RAN ALONG THE GROUND.

AND THERE WAS THICK DARKNESS IN ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT

FOR THREE DAYS.

IF THE AHMOSE STELE AND THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES

DESCRIBE THE SAME CATASTROPHIC EVENT,

THEN THIS IS THE FIRST INDEPENDENT HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

OF THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES--

CLEAR EVIDENCE

THAT AT LEAST SOME OF THESE SUPERNATURAL EVENTS

MIGHT HAVE BEEN REAL, NATURAL PHENOMENA.

BUT WHAT IN NATURE

COULD HAVE UNLEASHED THIS SERIES OF CATASTROPHES?

David Pyle: IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VIOLENT, APOCALYPTIC,

CATACLYSMIC.

TO AN OBSERVER

WHO'D NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE,

IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD.

WERE THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES CAUSED

BY A DEVASTATING NATURAL DISASTER?

FROM THE RUINS OF THIS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLE

COMES INTRIGUING NEW EVIDENCE--

A 3,500-YEAR-OLD ACCOUNT OF A DEVASTATING STORM

THAT'S STRIKINGLY SIMILAR

TO THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES OF DARKNESS, HAIL, AND FIRE.

IT SUGGESTS THE BIBLICAL LEGEND

IS ROOTED IN REAL, NATURAL EVENTS.

BUT WHAT NATURAL PHENOMENA

COULD CAUSE THE SEEMINGLY SUPERNATURAL PLAGUES?

FAR FROM THE SANDS OF EGYPT, IN CALIFORNIA'S WHITE MOUNTAINS,

SCIENTISTS MAY HAVE FOUND A CLUE.

9,000 FEET UP,

GNARLED AND TWISTED BRISTLECONE PINES

STAND CONTORTED AGAINST THE BARREN SLOPES.

THESE ARE THE EARTH'S OLDEST LIVING INDIVIDUAL TREES.

A U.S. TEAM

HAS BEEN ABLE TO ANALYZE THE TREES' ANNUAL GROWTH RINGS,

WITH A VIEW TO ESTABLISHING THEIR PRECISE AGE.

THEY NOTICED THAT MOST OF THE RINGS

FOLLOWED A PATTERN CONSISTENT WITH STEADY CLIMATIC ACTIVITY,

WHICH IS WHY MOST OF THE RINGS

ARE AN EQUAL DISTANCE APART FROM ONE ANOTHER.

THE RINGS REVEAL THESE TREES ARE OVER 5,000 YEARS OLD,

AND THEY PROVIDE A UNIQUE RECORD OF CLIMATE CONDITIONS

DURING THE TREE'S LONG LIFE.

BUT 3,500 YEARS AGO,

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ANNUAL LINES SHRINKS.

A SEISMIC SHIFT IN THE PATTERN

IS CLEARLY EVIDENT HERE.

AND THE ONLY THING THAT COULD HAVE AFFECTED IT SO DRAMATICALLY

IS A SUDDEN CLIMATIC TRANSFORMATION.

AND IT HAPPENED 3,500 YEARS AGO,

AT THE SAME TIME AS THE STORM DESCRIBED IN THE AHMOSE STELE.

THE TREE RINGS...

THE ANCIENT INSCRIPTION...

AND THE BIBLE ITSELF

A TERRIFYING TALE OF SUDDEN, VIOLENT CLIMATE CHANGE.

THE QUESTION IS, WHAT CAUSED IT?

BESIDES A FREAK EVENT,

LIKE A METEOR CRASHING INTO THE EARTH,

FOR WHICH THERE IS NO EVIDENCE AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY,

THERE'S ONLY A VERY LIMITED NUMBER

OF POSSIBLE PHENOMENA FROM THE NATURAL WORLD

THAT COULD CAUSE SUCH DRAMATIC CHANGE.

AND THAT WOULD BE A HUGE VOLCANIC ERUPTION.

BUT COULD A SINGLE ERUPTION

PLUNGE EGYPT'S CLIMATE INTO CHAOS?

COULD IT UNLEASH PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS AND FROGS?

COULD IT KILL THE FIRST BORN?

GEOLOGIST BARBARA SIVERTSEN THINKS SO.

SHE'S INVESTIGATED THE LINKS BETWEEN NATURAL PHENOMENA

AND THE BIBLICAL TALE.

WHEN YOU READ THE ACCOUNT OF THE TEN PLAGUES,

IT IS REALLY STRIKING HOW MUCH ALL OF THIS EXACTLY MATCHES

A SIGNIFICANT VOLCANIC ERUPTION

AND THE ASH FALL CLOUD THAT COMES IN AFTER IT.

BUT THERE'S ONE PROBLEM.

THERE ARE NO VOLCANOES IN THE REGION OF EGYPT,

SO WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES,

IS THERE A VOLCANO ANYWHERE ELSE

WHICH COULD HAVE CAUSED AN ERUPTION IN ANCIENT TIMES

WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN SO VIOLENT AND SO DRAMATIC

THAT IT COULD HAVE HAD AN EFFECT ON EGYPT'S WEATHER?

ONE CANDIDATE STANDS OUT.

3,500 YEARS AGO,

400 MILES NORTH OF EGYPT,

THE GREEK ISLAND OF SANTORINI

WAS HOME TO THE THRIVING MINOAN CIVILIZATION.

BUT IT WAS BUILT ON A TICKING TIME BOMB--

THE COLOSSAL THERA VOLCANO.

ONE DAY, IN THE LATE 16th OR EARLY 17th CENTURY B.C.,

THE VOLCANO EXPLODED.

FOR SANTORINI'S INHABITANTS, IT WAS THE END.

BUT FOR THE REST OF THE ANCIENT WORLD,

IT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING.

BESIDES THE DESTRUCTION OF SANTORINI ITSELF,

THE ENTIRE REGION WAS HIT BY EARTHQUAKES, TSUNAMIS,

FLOATING PUMICE, AND ASH FALL.

A TERRIFYING CHAIN OF EVENTS

HAD BEEN SET IN MOTION.

BUT DID THESE INCLUDE THE BIBLE'S TEN PLAGUES?

AT BRISTOL UNIVERSITY IN THE U.K.,

GEOLOGIST JEREMY PHILLIPS AND HIS TEAM

ARE EXAMINING THE ERUPTION AND PIECING TOGETHER

ITS DEADLY TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION,

AND WHAT THEY'VE DISCOVERED IS SHOCKING.

Jeremy Phillips: LOOKING AT THE EVOLUTION

OF THE BEHAVIOR DURING THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION

AND FROM NEW MEASUREMENTS

FROM OCEAN DRILLING AROUND THE COAST OF SANTORINI,

THAT THE VOLUME OF MATERIAL

THAT WAS EMITTED DURING THE BRONZE AGE ERUPTION

WAS LARGER, SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.

IN FACT, IT WAS UP TO 30% LARGER,

MEANING THERA'S ASH COULD HAVE SOARED 25 MILES INTO THE SKY,

BLASTING OUT UP TO 30 CUBIC MILES OF MATERIAL

AND LEAVING BEHIND A 7-MILE-WIDE CRATER.

BUT IS IT ENOUGH TO HAVE AFFECTED EGYPT?

WHAT WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT HERE

IS A MOVIE OF A LABORATORY EXPERIMENT

WHICH HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE SORT OF BEHAVIOR WE SEE

IN TERMS OF VOLCANIC ASH DISPERSION

FROM LARGE EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS

LIKE THE BRONZE AGE ERUPTION OF SANTORINI.

THE 23-GALLON LABORATORY TANK

IS FILLED WITH A SALTWATER SOLUTION,

WHICH IS LESS DENSE AT THE TOP THAN THE BOTTOM.

RED DYE IS INJECTED INTO THE TANK.

WHEN THE DYE REACHES THE LEVEL

WHERE IT'S THE SAME DENSITY AS THE SURROUNDING WATER,

IT CAN'T RISE ANY HIGHER.

AND THIS IS EXACTLY THE SAME BEHAVIOR THAT WE SEE

WITH LARGE EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

WE SEE THE PLUME RISES TO SOME HEIGHT IN THE ATMOSPHERE,

AND THEN IT SPREADS OUT HORIZONTALLY.

THE ASH CLOUD MAY BE SPREADING OUT

AT 40 OR 50 KILOMETERS AN HOUR, TYPICALLY,

AND IT'LL BE BLOWN AROUND BY THE WIND,

AND THE ASH CLOUD ITSELF,

WE KNOW THEY PERSIST IN THE ATMOSPHERE

FOR VERY LONG SCALES,

SO UP TO THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS FROM THE SOURCE.

IN 2010, A VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN ICELAND

DEMONSTRATED JUST HOW FAR ASH CAN TRAVEL.

WE KNOW THAT ASH REACHED THE U.K. FROM ICELAND

DURING THAT EVENT.

AND THAT'S MORE THAN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS FROM THE SOURCE,

AND IT'S A RELATIVELY MODEST-SIZED ERUPTION.

SO WE KNOW THAT TYPICALLY FOR THESE LARGER ERUPTIONS,

TRANSPORTING ASH ON THE SCALE OF THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS

IS, UH, IS QUITE FEASIBLE.

FAR ENOUGH TO REACH EGYPT,

JUST 400 MILES TO THE SOUTHEAST.

SINCE THE MINOAN ERUPTION WAS SO LARGE,

IT IS LIKELY TO HAVE PRODUCED ASH FALL EVENTS

AS FAR AWAY AS THE EGYPTIAN DELTA.

BUT HOW COULD THESE TINY PARTICLES

HAVE CAUSED THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES?

HOW COULD SOMETHING SO SMALL

HAVE TRIGGERED SOMETHING SO CATASTROPHIC,

SO VIOLENT, AND SO DEADLY?

3,500 YEARS AGO,

A DEVASTATING VOLCANO SPREAD DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

THROUGHOUT THE MEDITERRANEAN.

EXPERTS SUSPECT THIS NATURAL DISASTER

LIES BEHIND THE BIBLE'S TEN PLAGUES.

BUT HOW COULD A VOLCANO 400 MILES FROM EGYPT

TURN THE NILE TO BLOOD,

SPAWN BOILS, LOCUSTS,

AND KILL THE FIRSTBORN CHILDREN?

BIOLOGIST AND EGYPTOPHILE SIRO TREVISANATO

IS CONVINCED HE'S FOUND THE ANSWER.

WITH THE ERUPTION AS HIS STARTING POINT,

HE'S PIECED TOGETHER THE TERRIFYING SEQUENCE OF EVENTS,

ONE PLAGUE AFTER ANOTHER.

Siro Trevisanato: WE HAVE AN ERUPTION,

A BIG ERUPTION

THAT SPREAD ASH LEFT AND RIGHT.

COULD THIS HAVE CAUSED THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES?

COULD THIS BE THE CULPRIT?

YES, WE ACTUALLY CAUGHT THE CULPRIT RED-HANDED,

LITERALLY, BECAUSE OF THE RED WATERS.

TREVISANATO BELIEVES

THAT AS THE VOLCANIC ASH FELL BACK TO EARTH,

IT DUMPED TOXIC SULFIDES IN THE NILE,

CAUSING A CHEMICAL REACTION

AND TRANSFORMING ITS LIFE-GIVING WATERS

INTO A TORRENT OF DEATH.

IT WOULD HAVE NOW CHANGED THE pH OF THE WATER,

ACIDIFYING IT TO THE POINT

THAT FISH COULDN'T TOLERATE THE CHANGE,

AND THEREFORE DIED.

Man reading: I WILL SMITE WITH THE ROD THAT IS IN MINE HAND

UPON THE WATERS WHICH ARE IN THE RIVER,

AND THEY SHALL BE TURNED TO BLOOD.

AND THE FISH THAT IS IN THE RIVER SHALL DIE,

AND THE RIVER SHALL STINK,

AND THE EGYPTIANS SHALL LOATHE TO DRINK THE WATER OF THE RIVER.

THE SITUATION IN THE WATER WAS SO UNBEARABLE

THAT THE FROGS COULD NO LONGER GO BACK TO THE WATER,

AND STUCK ON THE LAND, THEY DIED, DEHYDRATED--

THE SECOND PLAGUE.

Man reading: AND THE RIVER SHALL BRING FORTH FROGS ABUNDANTLY,

WHICH SHALL GO UP AND COME INTO THINE HOUSE

AND INTO THY BEDCHAMBER,

AND UPON THY BED.

ACCORDING TO TREVISANATO'S THEORY,

TOXIC VOLCANIC ASH SET OFF A DEADLY DOMINO EFFECT.

FIRST, IT TURNED THE NILE RED,

FORCING FROGS TO FLEE ONTO THE LAND.

WHEN THESE DIED, IT CAUSED THE NEXT TWO PLAGUES.

AND NOW WE COME TO THE VERY REAL SITUATION

THAT YOU HAVE MASSES OF, UH, DEAD MEAT LITERALLY ALL OVER.

SO FOR THE INSECTS, THIS WAS AN AMAZING BONANZA.

Man reading: THERE WERE LICE UPON MAN, UPON BEAST.

THERE CAME A GRIEVOUS SWARM OF FLIES INTO THE HOUSE OF PHARAOH

AND INTO ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT.

THEN CAME THE FIFTH PLAGUE--

THE PESTILENCE THAT STRUCK DOWN LIVESTOCK.

AND ONCE AGAIN, ASH IS IMPLICATED.

AS THE ASH CLOUD OVER THE NILE DELTA GREW THICKER,

IT WOULD ALSO PERHAPS HAVE GOTTEN

INTO THE LUNGS OF THE ANIMALS

WHO WERE GRAZING IN THE FIELD,

AND THEY CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE HAD THEIR LUNGS COMPROMISED.

ANIMALS WHO HAVE BEEN OUT IN OTHER VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

HAVE DIED FROM INHALING VOLCANIC ASH.

IF THE THEORY'S CORRECT,

TOXIC ASH FROM THE ERUPTION OF THERA

COULD EXPLAIN THE FIRST FIVE BIBLICAL PLAGUES.

BUT THE SIXTH-- THE PLAGUE OF BOILS--

SEEMS INEXPLICABLE.

HOW COULD A DISTANT VOLCANO CAUSE AN OUTBREAK OF BOILS?

FAR FROM THE HEAT AND DUST OF EGYPT,

DEEP IN THE VAULTS OF LONDON'S BRITISH MUSEUM,

TREVISANATO THINKS HE'S FOUND THE ANSWER.

HE BELIEVES THIS 3,000-YEAR-OLD EGYPTIAN TEXT,

KNOWN AS THE LONDON MEDICAL PAPYRUS,

REVEALS THE TRUE CAUSE OF THE MYSTERIOUS BOILS.

IT'S A PRIVILEGE FOR ME

TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE PAPYRUS HERE

BECAUSE IT PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEDICINE,

THE BIOLOGY, AND ALSO THE DRUGS

WHICH WERE BEING USED AT THE TIME.

ONE FRAGMENT CAUGHT TREVISANATO'S EYE.

IT DESCRIBED STRANGE WHITE SPOTS

CAUSED BY CONTACT WITH RED WATER.

TREVISANATO FIGURED

THAT IF THIS RED WATER REFERRED TO THE BIBLICAL RIVER OF BLOOD,

THEN MAYBE THESE SPOTS WERE THE PLAGUE OF BOILS.

NOW WE ALSO KNOW

THAT THESE WATERS LEFT WHITE SPOTS ON THE SKIN,

AND THIS IS NOT SOMETHING NORMAL.

THIS PARAGRAPH TELLS US SOMETHING ELSE.

IT TELLS US THAT YOU HAVE TO PUT A SPECIFIC PASTE ON THE SKIN.

THE PASTE INCLUDES SODIUM CARBONATE,

OCHRE, AND ANIMAL FAT--

INGREDIENTS THAT ARE ALL ALKALINE.

SO, IF THE REMEDY IS ALKALINE,

THE ONLY POSSIBLE INFERENCE THAT YOU CAN HAVE

IS THAT THE ACTIVE IS AN ACID.

IT SEEMS THESE WHITE SPOTS WERE ACID BURNS,

AND THEY WERE CAUSED BY WATER.

USUALLY IF YOU BURN YOURSELF,

FIRST THING YOU DO IS

YOU PUT YOUR HAND UNDER THE WATER.

NOT IN THIS CASE.

HERE THEY TELL YOU, DON'T TOUCH WATER.

THE WATER IS RED.

IT'S ACTUALLY WHAT IS CAUSING THE DAMAGE.

AND THE ONLY POSSIBLE ACID

THAT THE EGYPTIANS COULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO

WOULD HAVE BEEN SULFURIC ACID,

WHICH WOULD HAVE COME FROM THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION

ALL THE WAY TO EGYPT.

IF HE'S RIGHT,

ALL OF THE FIRST SIX PLAGUES

CAN BE LINKED TO REAL, NATURAL PHENOMENA...

ALL CAUSED BY ONE COLOSSAL VOLCANIC ERUPTION.

IT'S A COMPELLING THEORY.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER FOUR PLAGUES--

HAIL, LOCUSTS, DARKNESS,

AND THE DEATH OF EGYPT'S FIRST BORN?

WERE THESE THE WORK OF VOLCANIC ASH?

OR WAS THERE ANOTHER KILLER ON THE LOOSE?

IN THE HUNT FOR A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION

FOR THE BIBLE'S TEN PLAGUES,

THE ANCIENT ERUPTION OF THE THERA VOLCANO

IS FIRMLY IN THE FRAME.

ITS TOXIC ASH CLOUD, THE PRIME SUSPECT.

BUT CAN THIS ASH ACCOUNT FOR THE FINAL FOUR PLAGUES?

OXFORD UNIVERSITY.

WITH ITS DREAMING SPIRES AND IVORY TOWERS,

IT'S A WORLD AWAY FROM THE VIOLENT ERUPTION

THAT SAVAGED THE ISLAND OF SANTORINI

3,500 YEARS AGO.

BUT IT'S HERE THAT VOLCANOLOGIST DAVID PYLE

IS INVESTIGATING THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS

OF THIS ANCIENT CATACLYSM.

AND IT WAS AN ERUPTION

THAT WOULD HAVE HAD TREMENDOUSLY DRAMATIC CONSEQUENCES

FOR THOSE THAT WERE EITHER CAUGHT UP IN IT,

CLOSE TO THE VOLCANO,

OR THOSE WHO SUFFERED THE CONSEQUENCES

HUNDREDS OR EVEN THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY FROM THE VOLCANO.

STUDYING MORE RECENT ERUPTIONS,

SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED

THOSE CONSEQUENCES MAY HAVE BEEN DEADLIER AND LASTED LONGER

THAN THEY EVER IMAGINED.

THERE'S ONE VOLCANO THAT IS WIDELY USED AS A COMPARISON,

WHICH WAS A TREMENDOUS ERUPTION IN THE SATELLITE ERA,

WHERE WE HAVE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE GROUND AND FROM SATELLITES

OF A WHOLE SERIES OF ASPECTS

OF THE ERUPTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

JUNE 15, 1991.

AFTER A FIVE-CENTURY SLUMBER,

MOUNT PINATUBO IN THE PHILIPPINES WOKE.

AVALANCHES OF BOILING ASH AND TORRENTS OF MUD

TORE THROUGH THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.

A CLOUD OF ASH SURGED HIGH INTO THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE.

IT WAS A DRAMATIC ERUPTION,

IT WAS A BIG EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION,

AND IT TOOK ABOUT SIX MONTHS

FOR THE EFFECTS OF THE PINATUBO ERUPTION

TO BE SPREAD COMPLETELY GLOBALLY.

AS SATELLITES MONITORED

THE SPREADING ASH CLOUD,

THEY RECORDED SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY,

SOMETHING THAT MAY HAVE TRIGGERED

THE FINAL FOUR PLAGUES--

A HUGE SPIKE IN SULFUR DIOXIDE LEVELS.

BLASTED OUT OF THE VOLCANO,

THIS GAS REMAINED IN THE ATMOSPHERE

LONG AFTER THE ASH HAD FALLEN BACK TO EARTH.

IN THE ATMOSPHERE,

THE SULFUR DIOXIDE UNDERGOES CHEMICAL REACTIONS

AND IS SLOWLY CONVERTED TO SULFURIC ACID.

SO THIS WOULD FORM TINY DROPLETS,

YOU KNOW, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A MICRON,

WHICH IS ABOUT 1/80th OF THE WIDTH OF A HUMAN HAIR.

AND THESE TINY, TINY DROPLETS

ARE NOW SUSPENDED HIGH IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

THE DROPLETS ENVELOP THE EARTH.

WHEN SUNLIGHT HITS THEM,

THEY ACT LIKE MIRRORS.

SOME OF THE LIGHT IS REFLECTED BACK OUT INTO SPACE

AND AWAY FROM THE EARTH.

SOME GETS ABSORBED BY THE TINY PARTICLES.

THE EARTH'S UPPER ATMOSPHERE GETS HOTTER,

WHILE THE EARTH'S SURFACE GETS COOLER.

IF YOU CHANGE THE PARTS OF THE GLOBE THAT ARE WARM,

WHICH ARE UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE,

AND PARTS OF THE GLOBE THAT ARE COOL, NEAR THE GROUND,

THEN IT WILL ACTUALLY,

IT WILL CHANGE THE WAY THAT THE AIR MASSES MOVE.

THE RESULT IS GLOBAL WEATHER CHAOS.

COULD THIS BE CONNECTED TO THE TEN PLAGUES?

DID IT HAPPEN AFTER THE THERA ERUPTION?

IT'S CERTAINLY THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE

THAT THE THERA ERUPTION

WOULD HAVE HAD GLOBAL IMPACT ON THE WEATHER SYSTEMS,

AND THAT WOULD HAVE HAD LOCAL CONSEQUENCES.

SO IN EGYPT IT'S QUITE LIKELY THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN

UNUSUAL OR DIFFERENT WEATHER PATTERNS.

THE ERUPTION

OF THE INDONESIAN VOLCANO TAMBORA IN 1815

REVEALS JUST HOW UNUSUAL.

THERE WERE LATE SNOWFALLS

IN PLACES LIKE VERMONT AND THE CAROLINAS.

SNOWFALL INTO JUNE, I THINK, IN 1816,

AND IT WAS A LOT WETTER AND A LOT COLDER.

AND SO ACROSS EUROPE AND PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES,

THERE WERE FOOD SHORTAGES BECAUSE OF CROP FAILURE.

COLD, WET, FREAK WEATHER

THAT DESTROYS CROPS.

THE PARALLELS WITH THE BIBLE'S SEVENTH PLAGUE ARE STRIKING.

Man reading: THE LORD SENT THUNDER AND HAIL.

AND THE HAIL SMOTE EVERY HERB OF THE FIELD

AND BREAK EVERY TREE OF THE FIELD.

AND THIS UNSTABLE, COLDER, WETTER CLIMATE,

CAUSED BY VOLCANIC SULFUR DIOXIDE,

COULD ALSO HAVE TRIGGERED THE EIGHTH PLAGUE.

Man reading: FOR THEY COVERED THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH

SO THAT THE LAND WAS DARKENED

AND THERE REMAINED NOT ANY GREEN THING

IN THE TREES OR HERBS OF THE FIELD

THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE LAND OF EGYPT.

IN 2004,

AN UNUSUAL WEATHER SYSTEM SWEPT ACROSS WEST AFRICA.

IT BROUGHT RAIN TO A REGION BLIGHTED BY DROUGHT

AND SEEMED LIKE A DREAM FOR FARMERS.

BUT IT SOON BECAME A NIGHTMARE,

BECAUSE BURIED IN THE SAND WERE DESERT LOCUST EGGS,

WAITING TO ABSORB MOISTURE...

AND HATCH.

EACH LOCUST CAN EAT ITS OWN BODY WEIGHT EVERY DAY.

IN ONE DAY, A SMALL SWARM CAN EAT AS MUCH FOOD

AS 2,500 PEOPLE.

THE 2004 SWARM SWEPT ACROSS 50,000 SQUARE MILES OF AFRICA,

INFLICTING AN ESTIMATED $2.5 BILLION OF DAMAGE.

FOR THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,

TOTALLY RELIANT ON CROPS FROM THE NARROW NILE VALLEY,

A PLAGUE OF THESE TINY INSECTS

WOULD HAVE CAUSED DEVASTATING FAMINE.

UNSTABLE, UNSEASONAL WEATHER

WOULD ALSO EXPLAIN THE NEXT PLAGUE...

THE DARKNESS THAT ENGULFED EGYPT FOR THREE DAYS.

THAT MAY BE THE APOCALYPTIC STORM

MENTIONED IN THE AHMOSE STELE.

TO AN OBSERVER

WHO'D NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE,

IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD.

NINE PLAGUES CAUSED BY SULFUR DIOXIDE AND TOXIC ASH

FROM THE ERUPTION OF THERA.

IF THE VOLCANO IS BEHIND THE BIBLICAL PLAGUES,

IT RAISES AN EXTRAORDINARY POSSIBILITY.

IF SCIENTISTS CAN DATE THE ERUPTION,

HISTORIANS CAN DATE THE TEN PLAGUES.

AND THAT TAKES INVESTIGATORS

BACK TO THE GREEK ISLAND OF SANTORINI

AND THE REMAINS OF THE THERA VOLCANO.

FOR DECADES, THEY SCOURED THE ISLAND'S RUINS

IN SEARCH OF CLUES TO THE DATE OF THE ERUPTION.

AMONG THEM WAS GERMAN GEOSCIENTIST WALTER FRIEDRICH.

Walter Friedrich: THIS ERUPTION

WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST EVER FELT BY MANKIND.

PINNING A PRECISE DATE ON THE ERUPTION

SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE.

THEN, IN 1996,

A BRANCH STICKING OUT OF THE VOLCANO'S CRATER WALLS.

I CLIMBED UP,

TOOK MY CAMERA.

I COULD SEE THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING.

THIS WAS A VERY IMPORTANT FINDING.

IMAGINE, WE HAVE A TREE

THAT WAS BURIED ALIVE ON THE VOLCANO ITSELF.

AND THAT WAS A SENSATION.

THIS GNARLED OLIVE TREE

WAS THE DISCOVERY THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD HAD BEEN WAITING FOR.

SEALED BENEATH A LAYER OF ASH,

SUSPENDED IN TIME SINCE THE MOMENT OF THE ERUPTION,

HERE AT LAST WAS ORGANIC MATERIAL

THAT SCIENTISTS COULD TEST.

BACK IN THEIR LAB, FRIEDRICH AND HIS TEAM

FORCED THE BRANCH TO GIVE UP ITS SECRETS.

USING RADIO CARBON TECHNOLOGY,

THEY HOPED TO PINPOINT THE YEAR THE TREE DIED.

WITHIN A MARGIN OF JUST 13 YEARS EITHER SIDE,

INVESTIGATORS FINALLY HAD A DATE.

THIS TREE DIED

AND THE VOLCANO ERUPTED

AROUND 1613 B.C.

WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR

THAT WE HAD A REALLY DIRECT AND PRECISE DATE

OF THIS HUGE ERUPTION,

THAT WAS A GREAT, GREAT MOMENT.

IT'S THE FINAL PIECE

OF A 3,500-YEAR-OLD PUZZLE.

THE AMERICAN TREE RINGS REVEALED THE ERUPTION'S GLOBAL IMPACT.

NOW THE SANTORINI OLIVE TREE GIVES IT A DATE.

AND THIS DATE FITS WITH THE ACCOUNT

OF A TERRIBLE STORM IN THE AHMOSE STELE.

WE'RE NOW LOOKING

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF AHMOSE AROUND 1570 B.C.

THE ERUPTION OF THERA AND THE REIGN OF AHMOSE

ARE CLOSE ENOUGH THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY, UM, PROPOSE

THAT HE MIGHT HAVE WITNESSED

THE AFTERMATH OF THE VOLCANO ERUPTION.

THERE'S CERTAINLY A GOOD POSSIBILITY

THAT WE CAN LINK AHMOSE

TO THE ACTUAL ERUPTION OF THERA IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.

IF MOELLER IS RIGHT,

THE STELE PROVES THE THERA ERUPTION

HAD A DIRECT AND DEVASTATING EFFECT ON EGYPT.

AND IF THE STELE AND THE BIBLE

ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME EVENTS,

THEN IT MAY FINALLY BE POSSIBLE

TO DATE ONE OF THE BIBLE'S MOST FAMOUS

AND MYSTIFYING STORIES.

THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT

HAPPENED SOMETIME BETWEEN 1626 AND 1600 B.C.

IT'S A BREATH-TAKING REVELATION.

A DATE FOR A TALE THAT WAS LOST IN THE SANDS OF TIME.

A BIBLICAL LEGEND TURNED INTO HISTORICAL FACT.

BUT IT'S NOT THE END OF THE STORY,

BECAUSE ONE PLAGUE HAS CONTINUED TO DEFY EXPLANATION...

UNTIL NOW.

THE LAST PLAGUE--

THE DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN.

THE TENTH PLAGUE OF EGYPT--

THE DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN.

STRUCK DOWN IN JUST ONE NIGHT.

Man reading: I WILL PASS THROUGH THE LAND OF EGYPT THIS NIGHT

AND WILL SMITE ALL THE FIRST BORN.

THE SUDDEN DEATH OF EGYPT'S FIRST BORN

IS A MYSTERY THREE MILLENNIA IN THE MAKING.

WHAT NATURAL PHENOMENON COULD KILL SO SWIFTLY

AND SO SELECTIVELY?

NOW THE DEAD ARE GIVING UP THEIR SECRETS.

AND THEY'RE TELLING ARCHAEOLOGISTS

THAT DEATH DID STRIKE SUDDENLY IN ANCIENT EGYPT,

SWEEPING THROUGH ENTIRE POPULATIONS

WITH DEVASTATING EFFICIENCY.

IN THE BARREN BEAUTY OF THE EGYPTIAN DESERT

LIES THE LOST CITY OF AMARNA.

3,000 YEARS AGO,

THE CITY WAS HOME TO TUTANKHAMUN AND NEFERTITI.

THEY WOULD HAVE GAZED AT ITS FINE PALACES AND GILDED TEMPLES.

NOW IT'S A VAST BONEYARD.

Anna Stevens: SO THIS DESERT BAY

CONTAINS SEVERAL THOUSAND BURIALS OF THE PEOPLE OF AMARNA.

SO JUST OVER HERE, FOR EXAMPLE,

HERE'S ONE OF THE BONES

OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE 3,000 YEARS AGO.

THE BIBLE'S FIRST BORN AREN'T BURIED IN THESE GRAVES.

THE PEOPLE OF AMARNA LIVED AND DIED

THREE CENTURIES AFTER THE THERA ERUPTION.

BUT THEY DO BEAR WITNESS

TO THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT,

BECAUSE AS SHE EXCAVATED THE SITE,

STEVENS NOTICED SOMETHING STRANGE ABOUT THESE BURIALS.

WE QUITE OFTEN FIND

TWO OR THREE PEOPLE BURIED TOGETHER

IN A WAY THAT SUGGESTS THAT THEY DIED

WITHIN A VERY SHORT SPACE OF TIME

AND WERE BURIED TOGETHER,

PERHAPS EVEN IN THE COURSE OF A SINGLE DAY.

SOMETHING KILLED THESE PEOPLE

IN A SHORT SPACE OF TIME...

SOMETHING THAT LEFT ITS MARK ON THEIR BONES.

PRELIMINARY STUDY

OF THE LESIONS ON THE BONES FROM THE PEOPLE BURIED HERE

INDICATE THAT THEY SUFFERED FROM MALARIA.

AND IT WASN'T JUST INFECTION

THAT AFFLICTED AMARNA'S INHABITANTS.

WE ALSO KNOW THAT RATS

WOULD HAVE BEEN LIVING AMONGST HUMAN POPULATIONS,

PARTICULARLY THE NILE RAT,

WHICH IS A KNOWN CARRIER OF BUBONIC PLAGUE.

BUBONIC PLAGUE AND MALARIA.

DISEASE AND INFECTION.

MASS KILLERS THAT STALKED AMARNA'S STREETS...

AND BEYOND.

WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THESE CONDITIONS

WERE PROBABLY QUITE WIDESPREAD ACROSS EGYPTIAN SETTLEMENTS

AT THIS TIME.

THE BURIALS PROVE

SUDDEN MASS DEATHS WEREN'T UNUSUAL IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

BUT DISEASE AND INFECTION DON'T DISCRIMINATE.

THEY KILL YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE.

YET IN THE TENTH PLAGUE, ONLY THE FIRST BORN DIED.

WHY?

COULD THE ANSWER ONCE AGAIN

LIE IN THE FALLOUT FROM THE THERA VOLCANO?

AS THE CROPS WERE DESTROYED BY ACID RAIN

AND THE SUFFERING OF THE PEOPLE WAS COMPOUNDED

BY ONE PLAGUE AFTER ANOTHER,

THEY WERE FORCED TO EAT ROTTING GRAIN.

THIS GRAIN,

THE VERY THING THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DEPENDED ON,

MAY HAVE KILLED THEIR FIRST BORN CHILDREN.

AT EXETER UNIVERSITY IN THE U.K.,

PLANT PATHOLOGIST SARAH GURR

INVESTIGATES HOW THIS STAPLE FOOD

CAN BE INFECTED BY A SILENT KILLER

CALLED ERGOT.

Sarah Gurr: ERGOT IS A FUNGUS THAT YOU FIND GROWING

ON THE GRAIN OF BOTH RYE AND WHEAT AND OTHER CEREAL PLANTS.

IT FLOURISHES WHEN IT'S BEEN WARM AND WET.

EXACTLY THE KIND OF WEATHER

THAT BLIGHTED EGYPT AFTER THE ERUPTION OF THERA.

IF YOU LOOK AT A GRAIN THAT'S INFECTED,

YOU WOULDN'T NOTICE THAT THERE WAS A FUNGUS THERE,

BECAUSE IT'S INVISIBLE.

IT'S ACTUALLY HIDING WITHIN THE GRAIN ITSELF.

THE FUNGUS FOUND ITS WAY

INTO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS' GRAIN STORES

AND THEN INTO THEIR FLOUR,

TURNING THE BREAD OF LIFE INTO AN AGENT OF DEATH.

FIRST OF ALL, YOU'D PROBABLY FEEL SICK,

YOUR MUSCLES WOULD RELAX,

YOU WOULD THEN HAVE

EXTRAORDINARILY ODD PALPITATIONS OF THE HEART,

AND IF YOU CONTINUED TO EAT IT,

IT WOULD LEAD TO ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS.

VOMITING, DIARRHEA,

CONVULSIONS, HALLUCINATIONS,

BLOOD CLOTS, AND GANGRENE.

FOR A POPULATION WEAKENED BY ONE PLAGUE AFTER ANOTHER,

ANY ONE OF THESE WOULD HAVE PROVED FATAL.

BUT WHY WOULD CONTAMINATED BREAD KILL ONLY THE FIRST BORN?

IN EGYPTIAN CULTURE,

THE FIRST BORN WAS ALWAYS THE TOP PRIORITY,

AND TRADITIONALLY THEY WERE ALWAYS OFFERED THE FOOD FIRST

AT MEALTIMES.

THE FIRST BORN WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO BE OFFERED FOOD,

THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO EAT.

IF THERE WASN'T ENOUGH FOOD TO GO AROUND,

THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE ONLY ONE TO EAT.

THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO DIE.

AND THE FIRST BORN WOULD HAVE DIED IN HIGHER NUMBERS

THAN ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE FAMILY.

IT'S A TRAGIC IRONY.

THE EGYPTIANS' DESIRE TO PROTECT THEIR PRECIOUS FIRST BORN

MAY HAVE SOWED THE SEEDS OF THEIR DEATH.

THERE WAS A NATURAL EVENT,

AND I SUSPECT THAT IT WAS FOOD POISONING

THAT KILLED THE FIRST BORN,

AND THAT THIS IS WHAT RESONATED INTO THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT.

IT MAY NOT HAVE KILLED ALL THE FIRST BORN,

BUT IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU TELL A FISH STORY

AND THE FISH GETS BIGGER AND BIGGER AND BIGGER

EACH TIME YOU TELL IT.

ONE OR TWO OR A FEW PEOPLE DYING OF FOOD POISONING,

AS PEOPLE TELL IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS,

COULD HAVE BECOME

"ALL OF THE EGYPTIANS LOST THEIR FIRST BORN."

THIS WASN'T SIMPLY TELLING TALL TALES.

IT WAS A WAY TO MAKE SENSE OF SEEMINGLY SENSELESS EVENTS,

TO FIND ORDER IN CHAOS.

ONE WAY OF COPING WITH SOMETHING

THAT'S COMPLETELY UNUSUAL AND COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED

IS THAT YOU CREATE A NARRATIVE.

AND PERHAPS BY TELLING THOSE STORIES,

YOU'RE TRYING TO GIVE YOURSELF A FRAMEWORK

OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT HAPPENED.

FOR MANY,

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE INEXPLICABLE AND UNEXPECTED

IS GOD.

IF SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED,

AND YOU CAN'T SEE THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE,

THEN YOU CAN IMAGINE THIS THEN BECOMES WOVEN INTO A STORY

INVOLVING A CREATOR OR GODS.

OVER TIME, THE STORY OF THE TEN PLAGUES OF EGYPT

WAS TOLD AND RETOLD...

AN EPIC TALE OF HOW MOSES

UNLEASHED ONE DISASTER AFTER ANOTHER...

TO TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY

AND LIBERATE THE ISRAELITES,

UNTIL A THOUSAND YEARS LATER,

SOMETIME AROUND 600 B.C.,

IT CRYSTALIZED INTO THE STORY

THAT WAS RECORDED IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS.

BENEATH LAYERS OF MYTH AND METAPHOR

LIES A KERNEL OF TRUTH.

A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION FOR ALL TEN PLAGUES.

AND, MOST ASTONISHING OF ALL,

A DATE.

1613 B.C.

THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

AND THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TAKEN ALL TOGETHER

SHOWS US THAT WE CAN EXPLAIN THESE EVENTS

THROUGH NATURAL PHENOMENA.

THAT'S NOT THE SAME THING

AS SAYING THAT THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED

AND THAT IT DEFINITELY DID HAPPEN.

WHETHER THE PLAGUES WERE THE CONSEQUENCE

OF GOD WORKING THROUGH NATURE

OR NATURE ALONE,

THE EVIDENCE IS CONVINCING.

THE TEN PLAGUES CAN BE EXPLAINED

BY ONE CATASTROPHIC NATURAL DISASTER.

THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A NATURAL EXPLANATION

IN THE CORE OF THEM.

THE FROGS AND THE DUST AND THE DARKNESS

AND THE HAIL AND THE BOIL BLISTERS.

IT'S ONLY NOW, 3,000 YEARS LATER,

THAT WE'RE ABLE TO APPLY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

TO SEE WHAT LIES BEHIND THE 10 PLAGUES.

THESE ARE REAL THINGS,

AND IN FACT THEY ARE REAL VOLCANIC PHENOMENA.