Akhetaten Plague in Ancient Egypt May Never Have Happened

An undisturbed burial astatine the North Tombs Cemetery containing 3 individuals. Credit: Gretchen R. Dabbs / Free Access

A long-held mentation that a deadly epidemic triggered the abrupt abandonment of Akhetaten, the short-lived superior of ancient Egypt, is present nether superior doubt. A caller survey published successful the American Journal of Archaeology by Dr. Gretchen Dabbs and Dr. Anna Stevens presents grounds suggesting the metropolis whitethorn ne'er person been affected by immoderate plague astatine all.

The city, known contiguous arsenic Amarna, was founded by Pharaoh Akhenaten—formerly Amenhotep IV—during a extremist displacement successful spiritual ideology. His exclusive worship of the prima deity Aten led to the operation of Akhetaten arsenic a interruption from Egypt’s accepted spiritual centers.

But wrong 2 decades, the superior was mostly deserted, sparking long-standing speculation that the Akhetaten plague successful past Egypt played a relation successful its collapse.

Statue of Akhenaten successful the postulation of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Credit: Prof. Mortel / CC BY 2.0

That mentation has mostly relied connected written sources from extracurricular the city, including Hittite plague prayers and letters from Amarna referencing illness outbreaks successful Megiddo, Byblos and Sumur. However, nary of these texts straight notation a wellness situation wrong Akhetaten itself.

New probe disputes epidemic theory

To trial the theory, researchers conducted a elaborate reappraisal of archaeological and bioarchaeological information from Amarna and its surrounding cemeteries. Between 2005 and 2022, 889 burials were excavated from 4 cardinal cemetery sites that are estimated to clasp betwixt 11,350 and 12,950 individuals.

Dabbs explained that their squad utilized established patterns from confirmed epidemic sites—such arsenic disruptions successful burial practices, demographic imbalances, and precocious mortality indicators—to measure the evidence.

The findings astatine Amarna did not lucifer immoderate of those markers. Most individuals were buried successful a deliberate and respectful manner, with sedate goods, textiles and mat coffins, and fewer signs of disease.

Remains of an past temple of Aten successful Amarna , Egypt. Credit: wikimedia commons / Markh CC BY-SA 3.0

Only 7 cases showed grounds of tuberculosis, and different wellness indicators pointed much to economical and societal accent than to an epidemic.

One of the fewer irregularities was a notable fig of aggregate burials, but Stevens noted that these often progressive big women and children, indicating taste oregon familial customs alternatively than exigency burials.

Evidence points to planned abandonment

Paleodemographic modeling besides showed that mortality levels, beingness expectancy and wide burial numbers aligned with what would beryllium expected for a metropolis of Akhetaten’s size and duration.

Moreover, grounds shows the metropolis was abandoned gradually, with possessions removed and low-level concern continuing adjacent aft Akhenaten’s death.

Dabbs said the plague communicative apt endured due to the fact that of circumstantial links betwixt Amarna, unwellness and historical texts written astir different places.

She emphasized the value of avoiding assumptions based connected sources from antithetic regions oregon periods erstwhile interpreting circumstantial archaeological sites.