The Plagues of Egypt were a series of calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, God inflicted on Egypt to convince the Pharoah to release the Israelites from slavery. Although the majority of historians believe the events to be allegorical, there are scientific theories about the events. Were they actually natural disasters?

We consider the theories of the Plagues of Egypt.

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Context - According to the Book of Exodus, God inflicted plagues on Egypt to persuade the Pharaoh to free the Israelite slaves. The Pharaoh only accepted God's request after the tenth plague. Proponents of biblical archaeology have two theories to explain the events.

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Two theories - British physicist Colin Humphreys, author of the book 'Miracles of the Exodus' (2003), argues that an extreme drought was responsible for changing the water of the Nile, which caused the series of events. Others theorize that a volcanic eruption caused the sequence of plagues 3,500 years ago. Canadian biologist Siro Trevisanato, who wrote the book 'The Plagues of Egypt,' is a proponent of this idea.

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First plague: water into blood - The first divine plague occured when Pharaoh Ramesses II refused to free the Israelites. The water of the Nile, which symbolized fertility, turned to blood.

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First plague: water into blood - One explanation is that a rise in temperature caused an extreme drought and turned the waters of the Nile red. The heat led to the proliferation of pyrophytic algae, which caused the color to change.

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First plague: water into blood - Another hypothesis is that the water of the river was red because of earthquakes triggered by a volcanic eruption. The quakes disturbed dissolved iron in the water, which mixed with gases released by the tremors, forming ferrous hydroxide (rust) and turning the water red.

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Second plague: frogs - According to Exodus, Pharaoh Ramesses II did not change his mind on freeing the Israelites from slavery. Accordingly, another divine punishment was imposed: the invasion of thousands of amphibians in the Nile.

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Second plague: frogs - According to the British physicist Colin Humphreys, this curse was a direct consequence of the first. With the absence of oxygen in the water, the frogs fled the river and migrated to land. Fish died in the Nile.

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Second plague: frogs - The volcanic eruption theory posits that the gas released by earthquakes left the water without oxygen, forcing the frogs to flee to dry land.

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Third plague: lice - The Egyptians prayed for the plagues to end, but a third punishment was sent.

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Third plague: lice - According to Colin Humphreys, the drought led to the multiplication of lice eggs. The parasite was common in ancient Egypt and the reason why people shaved their heads.

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Third plague: lice - Another theory that explains the proliferation of parasites is that hygiene worsened with the lack of clean water.

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Fourth plague: flies - A swarm of flies followed the lice infestation. Only the Israelites were not affected by the curse.

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Fourth plague: flies - According to physicist Colin Humphreys, the insect invasion was due to the death of frogs. Without the amphibians feeding on flies, the population increased.

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Fourth plague: flies - Another theory is that the lack of clean water and dead animals attracted insects to the area.

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Fifth plague: diseased livestock - The Bible says that Ramesses II lied to Moses and told him that he would free the slaves. When the lie was discovered, Egypt was punished with the death of its animals.

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Fifth plague: diseased livestock - One explanation for the death of animals is the cascade effect. Infestations of flies and lice, which were caused by the lack of clean water and death of the frogs (natural predators of the insects) were responsible for this plague.

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Fifth plague: diseased livestock - Humphreys theorizes that stable flies transmitted fatal viruses to horses and cows.

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Sixth plague: boils - Exodus has it that the Egyptians were next sent boils on the skin.

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Sixth plague: boils - According to biologist Werner Kloas of the Leibniz Institute in Germany, boils appeared due to the multiplication of insects, which stung and bit the Egyptians.

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Sixth plague: boils - The volcanic eruption theory proposes that the eruption released lots of carbon dioxide, which resulted in boils and wounds.

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Seventh plague: hailstorms - A storm of hail, ashes, and fire fell from the sky.

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Seventh plague: thunderstorm of hail - One theory is that the storms were simply huge hail storms that included thunder and lightning. Although rare, it is possible for such weather events to occur in desert regions.

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Seventh plague: thunderstorm of hail - Nadine von Blohm of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of Germany theorizes that the event was a rain of stones caused by a volcanic eruption.

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Eighth plague: locusts - Exodus says that God sent this punishment to destroy crops in the region. Again, the Israelites escaped the curse.

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Eight plague: locusts - According to the book 'The Miracles of the Exodus,' locusts invaded Egypt due to climate change or the crops deteriorated because of the hail storms or volcanic eruptions.

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Eight plague: locusts - A second theory is that the cold weather and damp soil created an ideal breeding ground for locusts.

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Ninth plague: darkness - Exodus states that total darkness descended for three days.

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Ninth plague: darkness - One theory is that a dense sandstorm may have been responsible for the phenomenon. Such storms occur in the deserts of Egypt today.

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Ninth plague: darkness - The volcanic theory posits that the ashes caused by the eruption eclipsed the sun and left Egypt in darkness.

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Tenth plague: death of firstborn - According to the Bible, the first child of both humans and animals died. Only the Israelites, who had been warned to mark their doors with the blood of a lamb, would be saved. Pharaoh Ramesses II lost his son in this plague.

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Tenth plague: death of firstborn - Scholars believe that the death of the eldest children had its origin in a cultural habit at the time. Firstborn children had the privilege of being fed first. They ate food contaminated by locust feces and died of disease.

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Tenth plague: death of firstborn -

Another theory is that the firstborns died due to carbon dioxide released by the volcano. The vulnerable infants would have died from inhalation of the toxic gas.

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The truth behind the Plagues of Egypt -