Is There Historical Evidence of the 10 Plagues of Egypt?

In the account in Exodus about the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, God demonstrates His power through the 10 plagues, a remarkable series of events. There was darkness, a river of blood, multiple invasions of pests like frogs and locusts.

When we review the Egyptian records though, there isn’t an account that seems to align with the Exodus account. Many also point to the seemingly absurd events that take place, and how from a materialistic worldview that does not account for the potentiality of God or the supernatural, they seem impossible. God’s Word has stood the test of scrutiny and examination for thousands of years because His truth endures forever. While faith is an important component of the Christian faith, that doesn’t mean there isn’t historic and scientific evidence that exists which helps testify to Biblical accuracy.

When understanding the cultural context of the Hebrews in Egypt, the extra-Biblical documentation that does exist which acknowledges plague-type events, as well as the scientific evidence of the changes to the land, we find evidence to support the historical truth of the 10 plagues of Egypt.

How Did the Israelites Become Slaves in Egypt?

Abraham’s descendants wound up enslaved in Egypt. The Hebrews had been in Egypt for generations during the events of the Exodus. When Jacob’s son Joseph was sold into slavery, that is where he spent his life. He married an Egyptian woman, had two sons, and worked to prepare the nation for a drought. Eventually when it came, his family came to Egypt asking for food, and they were reunited, with Joseph calling his whole family to come stay safe from the drought under his domain. The sons of Jacob grew their families into large tribes in Egypt for years.

“Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ‘Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.’ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh” (Exodus 1:8-11).

When Moses was born, the Israelites were living under that oppression. God called him and his brother Aaron to demand the freedom of His people, and to lead them out. When Pharoh refused to release them, God began to pour out His judgment in the form of 10 plagues, each escalating in severity.

The plagues were:

- The Nile River turned to blood

- Infestation of frogs

- Infestation of lice

- Infestation of flies

- Pestilence and death of livestock

- Boils

- Hail and fire

- Infestation of locusts

- Three days of darkness

- The death of the firstborn in each household 

An Important Facet of Egyptian Culture

An issue people take with the account of the plagues that is easily understood through a historical lens is the lack of information about them in the Egyptian historical records. The Old and New Kingdoms existed as an almost continuous series of power families that had unilateral control over their nation. While there were various bumps along the way, Egypt maintained its culture for millennia.

One of the elements of that culture was control over the messaging each pharaoh had over their dynasty. Many had control over the narrative of their time, and would edit history. There are some pharaohs that are only known about today because their name was found once in an obscure location because a successor had their name carved off and removed from official records.

From a historical standpoint, the Hebrew people leaving after the humiliation of their nation, their god-king, and their power, is not something the Egyptians would have felt compelled to keep in their historical record. They may have removed all references to the Hebrews and Moses.

Scientific Evidence

When considering scientific evidence for the plagues, there are many who try to find scientific proof that provides a non-miraculous explanation for the account of the plagues in the Bible. These are scientific alternatives to God’s actions; they are usually presented as a series of hypotheticals in which “rational explanations” are presented to allow for a series of disasters without acknowledging God.

Understanding the context, there is evidence that leads scientists to speculate for natural causes of the plagues. This evidence has to do with an unnatural drought season around the estimated time of the exodus. Climate scientists have found evidence that shows a dramatic change in the climate. While they attribute that change to causing the plagues, the evidence paired with the Biblical account could show the plagues caused that change.

Historical Evidence 

While there are not many references in Egyptian history that address events that could parallel the 10 plagues, there are some. The Ipuwer Papyrus is an ancient text whose oldest copy dates to around 1400BC, which would have been within 100 years of the estimated dates of the Exodus accounts. It refers to the Nile River turning to blood, the mass death of livestock, great buildings cut down by hail and fire, the land being without light, and mass death. It also refers to slaves leaving, clad in gold and precious materials, which could be a nod to the Hebrews leaving.

Archaeologists have found materials pointing to a lower class of people in the area today known as Avaris, and formerly known as Goshen. There are also mass graves of skeletons which date to approximately the century of the plagues. Additionally, there are accounts in the Egyptian record which acknowledge “the people who shall not be named,” who lived in Goshen. While it is not a direct one-for-one comparison to the Old Testament account of the Exodus, it does show calamity in the nation’s past that correlates with the Bible.

Here are key quotes from the Ipuwer Papyrus that seem to be about the plagues:

- “Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.” (Ipuwer 2:5-6)

- “The river is blood Men shrink from tasting - human beings, and thirst after water.” (Ipuwer 2:10)

- “He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.” (Ipuwer 2:13)

- “It is groaning through the land, mingled with lamentations.” (Ipuwer 3:14)

- “All the animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan.” (Ipuwer 5:5)

- “Forsooth, grain has actually died on ever side.” (Ipuwer 6:3)

- “The land is without light.” (Ipuwer 9:11)

- “Lower Egypt weeps…the whole palace is without its incomes. To it belong wheat and barley, geese and fish.” (Ipuwer 10:3-6)

A lot of history has been lost to time, or to the rebuilding of civilization on top of important evidence, and some accounts in the Bible can be hard to prove. No one will ever be able to identify which bush was the burning bush through which God communicated with Moses, but that doesn’t mean this account didn’t happen.

At the same time, there is scientific and historical evidence for many of the events recorded in God’s Word. Scientists, archaeologists, historians, and other experts pair their faith with their education as a form of apologetics. Studying the world can bring people to believe in the truth of the Bible or bolster their faith.

Sources

Bryant, Jacob. Observations Upon the Plagues Inflicted Upon the Egyptians. London:T. Hamilton and R. Ogle, 1810.

Freund, Richard. Digging Through the Bible Modern Archaeology and the Ancient Bible. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.

Wilkinson, Toby. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. Random House, 2011.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/KONSTANTIN AKIMOV

Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com.