UCL in the News: Plagues of Egypt 'caused by nature, not God'

Professor Roger Wotton [UCL Biology], in the student academic journal Opticon 1826, says the dramatic series of events, that included the Nile turning to blood and a plague of frogs, are explicable as natural phenomena. …

Professor Wotton, who specialises in zoology and aquatic biology, says the plagues, described in the Book of Exodus, were central to the liberation of the Jewish people from the oppression of the Egyptians.

"The succession of disasters demoralised the Egyptians and were seen as a victory for Jewish monotheistic beliefs," he argues, going on to propose a series of natural explanations. …

Professor Wotton says the plagues probably did happen, but argues they have been "embellished, ordered and described through the lens of religious mythology".

The "rivers of blood" could have been caused by heavy rainfall on baked soil, leading to sediment-rich water flowing into the Nile from tributaries where the underlying soil and rocks are red. …

The plague of lice could have been merely the sudden hatching of lice throughout Egypt after rain that followed unusually hot and dry weather. …

The boils on the human population could have been caused by insect bites. …

He says the chronology as set down in the Bible can be explained by the probable weather conditions but the impact of the plagues upon religious belief was profound.

"The victory of Jewish monotheism also became the victory of Christian monotheism as the origins of both religious groups are shared," he said. "Islam then developed from the same roots in the first Millennium and it, too, is strongly monotheistic. It was Islam that resulted in the final overthrow of widespread polytheism in Egypt," he said.