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| A modern day epidemiologist is trapped in ancient Egypt. |
Archaeological
evidence has linked the origin of the Black Death to the age of Amenhotep III
and his son Akhenaten.
Amenhotep III, father of Akhenaten built 365 seated and
365 standing statues in the temple of Mut at Karnak, of Sekhmet, ‘Lady of
Pestilence’, in a desperate attempt to placate the goddess. It has even been
suggested that Akhenaten built his new city on a sterile desert site to avoid
the pestilence in Thebes.
However, remains
of plague bearing fleas have linked bubonic plague to a specific site in
ancient Egypt, the cramped workers’ village in Amarna, home of those who built
tombs for pharaohs Akhenaten and, later, Tutankhamun.
Egyptians of
the time blamed the pandemic on the anger of Amun-Ra, the original state god,
who suffered from the repressive attacks of Akhenaten.
‘Pharaoh’s
Plague’, as some have dubbed it, has the ability to rage through populations,
then lie as dormant as a mummy sleeping in a tomb, sometimes for centuries,
before emerging to wreak havoc once again.
