02127nas a2200397 4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001200067653001000079653000900089653001100098653002000109653002200129653002500151653001900176653002100195653001100216653001200227653001100239653001200250653002500262653000900287653001100296653000900307653001000316653001900326653002400345100001600369700001400385245018000399300001200579490000700591520111700598022001401715 2010 d c2010 Sep10aAnimals10aAnthrax10aBible10aCats10aCattle10aCattle Diseases10aDisease Outbreaks10aDysentery, Bacillary10aEgypt, Ancient10aHistory, Ancient10aHumans10aInsecta10aIsrael10aleprosy10aMedicine in the Arts10aMice10aPlague10aRats10aSheep10aSheep Diseases10aTick-Borne Diseases1 aSabbatani S1 aFiorino S00aThe plague of the Philistines and other pestilences in the Ancient World: exploring relations between the religious-literary tradition, artistic evidence and scientific proof. a199-2070 v183 a

In ancient times the term pestilence referred not only to infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis, but also to several different epidemics. We explore the relations between references in the Bible and recent scientific evidence concerning some infectious diseases, especially the so-called Plague of the Philistines and leprosy. In addition, some considerations regarding possible connections among likely infectious epidemic diseases and the Ten Plagues of Egypt are reported. Evidence suggesting the presence of the rat in the Nile Valley in the II millennium BC is shown; a possible role of the rat in the plague spreading already in this historical period should be confirmed by these data. While the biblical tale in the Book of Samuel may well report an epidemic event resembling the plague, as to date this infectious disease remains unknown, it is not conceivable to confirm the presence of leprosy in the same age, because the little palaeopathologic evidence of the latter disease, in the geographic area corresponding to Egypt and Palestine, is late, dating back only to the II century AD.

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