Volcanic Eruptions and Climate Change Incited Upheaval in Ancient Egypt - and Historians Warn of Repetition

Ancient Origins

The Nile river was the lifeblood of ancient Egypt. When the waterway flooded nearby lands things were good, but a lack of that precious water caused serious issues. Now, historians have found that the famous waterway could have been negatively impacted at key moments in the Ptolemaic period – inciting social, political, and economic upheavals. Most surprisingly, it seems that the lack of Nile flooding could have been set off by volcanic eruptions altering the climate.

 The results of research on the link between the climatic impact in ancient Egypt by volcanoes was recently published in Nature Communications. In the paper, the authors explain that “Explosive eruptions can perturb climate by injecting sulfurous gases into the stratosphere; these gases react to form reflective sulfate aerosols that remain aloft in decreasing concentrations for approximately one to two years.” Through a chain of events, those sulfurous gases cool the atmosphere, and if that takes place in the Northern Hemisphere, monsoon rains may not move as far as they usually do.

Merapi volcano, eruption at night. (1865) Raden Saleh. (Public Domain)

Francis Ludlow, a climate historian at Trinity College in Dublin and a co-author of the study, explained to EurekAlert! how those climatic events impacted the Nile River, “When the monsoon rains don't move far enough north, you don't have as much rain falling over Ethiopia. And that's what feeds the summer flood of the Nile in Egypt that was so critical to agriculture.”

Burial chamber of Sennedjem, Scene: Plowing farmer. (Public Domain)

Science Alert reports that the researchers have linked at least three major events in ancient Egypt’s declining years to volcanic eruptions and the subsequent suppression of the Nile. An eruption in 245 BC has been used as a partial explanation for Ptolemy III's exit from the area now Syria and Iraq, as the Roman historian Justinus wrote, if Ptolemy III “had not been recalled to Egypt by disturbances at home, [he] would have made himself master of all Seleucus's dominions.”

The 20-year Theban revolt (starting in 207 BC) has been connected to another volcanic eruption. And finally, eruptions during the reign of Cleopatra VII in 46 and 44 BC led to serious famines and the release of state-reserved grain. This may have been the so-called “straw that broke the camel’s back” – climatic, social, political, and economic upheaval combined and brought down the famous ancient Egyptian civilization.

Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Condemned Prisoners by Alexandre Cabanel (1887). (Public Domain)

Ludlow says that the connection between the eruptions, Nile failure, and problematic events in Egypt are “highly unlikely to have occurred by chance, such is the level of overlap.”

The historians determined the impact of the eruptions on the Nile and Egyptian society by examining a monument known as al-Miqyas, or the Nilometer, which has preserved a record of the Nile's summer peaks since the early 7th century. They combined that data with events prior to that time by piecing together information from previous research providing a timeline of major volcanic eruptions around the world and historical records

Measuring shaft of the Nilometer on Rhoda Island, Cairo. Nilometers measured how high or low the flood would be. (CC BY SA 3.0)

Yale University researcher Joseph Manning told EurekAlert! “That's the beauty of these climate records. For the first time, you can actually see a dynamic society in Egypt, not just a static description of a bunch of texts in chronological order.

The Nile River from a boat between Luxor and Aswan. (Public Domain)

But this is not just a story of past issues, the researchers stressed to EurekAlert! that we should take note. Ludlow says:

 “The 21st century has been lacking in explosive eruptions of the kind that can severely affect monsoon patterns. But that could change at any time. The potential for this needs to be taken into account in trying to agree on how the valuable waters of the Blue Nile are going to be managed between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.”

 This study is part of the Volcanic Impacts on Climate and Society working group of Past Global Changes (PAGES), a global research project of Future Earth.

Fragment of a temple relief with Nile god Hapi. The inscription on the frieze reads "all luck, all life" which is what was hoped for; Medinet (Egypt); 746-655 BC. (Public Domain)

Top Image: Artist’s depiction of an Ancient Egyptian girl kneeling by the Nile River. Source: Ann Wuyts/ CC BY 2.0

By Alicia McDermott

Climate change threatens to sweep away historic Jamestown settlement

Oldest known English settlement in America at risk from rising seas, with some of the archaeological digs already destroyed
• Landmark US sites at risk due to climate change

 

The stockade fort at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America, circa 1610. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Jamestown Island, America's oldest known permanent European settlement runs the risk of being swept away by rising seas, with some sections of it already beneath the James River.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell got a firsthand look Thursday at the effect of climate change on ever-receding coastline Jamestown Island, Virgina.
Jewell trekked around the island, and heard of the devastation in 2003 when Hurricane Isabel raked the low-lying landscape. The storm left many parts of the island underwater and destroyed thousands of artifacts retrieved from archaeological digs. Many are still being restored.
Jewell told the Associated Press that Jamestown is certainly vulnerable.
"I know enough now having been in this job looking at vulnerable sites that this is a highly vulnerable site," Jewell said. "We don't have very many places in the United States that talk about the super-early history of settlers connecting with the native people of the land, so this is a really an important place."
Dorothy Geyer, a Park Service natural resource specialist, said a one-and-a-half-foot rise in sea level would put 60% of the island under water and a four-foot-plus rise would increase that number to 80%. Jewell said her visit to Jamestown is part of the Obama administration's push to address climate change.
"It's very clear we have global warming and sea level rise and this is a hot spot for it," Jewell said. "And what's at risk is the history of our country."
Jamestown was settled in 1607 by Europeans, including Captain John Smith. When European settlers arrived, there already was a thriving population of Native Americans led by paramount Chief Powhatan. The remnants of both native people and settlers can be found on the island.
The Tidewater of Virginia and sections of the Chesapeake Bay are among the most vulnerable to sea change in the world. While climate change is a big factor, the region is also sinking the result of a meteor that gouged out the Chesapeake Bay 35m years ago.
The tour followed a report in May by the Union of Concerned Scientists that lists Jamestown as among 30 historic and cultural sites in the nation that are at risk because of climate change.
Jewell trekked through mosquito-infested wetlands and through stands of loblolly during the tour. At Black Point, the eastern-most point of land on the island, she saw where waters had reclaimed 20ft of the island through the years.
Jewell visited a research center where thousands of artifacts are still being restored. More than one million artifacts pipe stems, ceramic cookware, silver settings were damaged. Jewell later had discussions with climate scientists.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/05/jamestown-settlement-rising-sea-level-threat