The Truth behind Exodus?

The biblical story of the ten plagues visited upon Egypt is investigated in this week's Equinox, and the findings reveal that each one could have a rational explanation.

Reproduced from the

	Water to blood The Bible says: the Nile turned to blood at the touch of Moses's staff. Equinox says: a red- blooming algae called Pfisteria, which makes fish bleed, could have been the cause.
	Frogs Pfisteria would have killed all the fish; no fish means more frog spawn, which means more frogs. And a polluted river would drive them on to the land in their millions.
	Lice Without moisture the frogs died, removing the only obstacle to an insect explosion - and the biblical story is long before "lice" were distinguished from other insects.
	Flies The Bible says: there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh. Equinox says: fly swarms are not uncommon, and this plague was probably of stable flies, which bite.
	Sick animals Equinox concludes that two diseases decimated Egypt's livestock: African Horse Sickness and Blue Tongue, transmitted by tiny midges (the "lice" of the third plague.
	Boils A disease causing boils and blisters struck next - perhaps the ancient disease "Glanders", which is spread by stable flies. As a result, the crops went unharvested.
	Hail Only last year hailstorms hit Israel and Jordan. They're not rare, but to the weakened Egyptians, whose crops were their whole livelihood, a hailstorm at this time would be a cruel blow.
	Locusts Again, locusts have been known to swarm since ancient times, stripping crops. But to the Egyptians, like the hail, a locust plague now couldn't come at a worse time.
	Darkness The Bible says a three-day darkness fell next .A sandstorm is the likely culprit: one in Cairo in 1997 blacked out the sky for three days. The sand would cover any food supplies remaining.
	First-born die Micro-toxins found in locust droppings contaminating the food were lethal; and in famine conditions the custom was to give the eldest double portions. End of story

Further Reading

The Bible

Leading Edge - Evidence against Noah's Flood