Ancient Plague Secrets Unlocked
Researchers have cracked the mystery of a 7th-century plague that devastated Jirash (modern Jordan) using DNA analysis and forensic reconstruction. The study reveals how the earliest recorded pandemic spread and killed residents, offering lessons for both historians and public health experts. This marks a breakthrough in understanding pre-medieval disease patterns.
This plague was part of the first recorded pandemic in history, the Plague of Justinian, which ravaged the Byzantine Empire from A.D. 541 to 750. The bacterium responsible was *Yersinia pestis*, the same microbe that would later cause the Black Death in the 14th century. The discovery was made in a mass grave beneath a former Roman hippodrome in Jerash. This stadium, once used for chariot races, had been repurposed for workshops and then as a burial site to cope with the overwhelming number of deaths. The haphazard and rapid nature of the burials, which took place over just a few days, points to a city in crisis. DNA sequencing of the victims' teeth revealed that a single, uniform strain of *Y. pestis* was responsible for the deaths, indicating the plague spread with incredible speed and lethality. The victims included men, women, and children from a diverse range of ancestral backgrounds, including central Africa, eastern Europe, and Anatolia. Isotope analysis of the teeth confirmed this diversity, showing the victims grew up in different geographic locations with varied diets and water sources. This suggests Jerash was a major trade hub with a mobile population, a factor that likely contributed to the rapid spread of the disease. The findings from this US-led research team were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
