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Research on Human Remains from Jerash Confirms That Yersinia Pestis Devastated the Byzantine Empire Between 541 and 750 AD, Marking the First Historic Pandemic
A group of scientists revealed the cause of the world’s first pandemic, known as the Plague of Justinian, which occurred between 541 and 750 AD. The research identified the bacterium Yersinia pestis as responsible for the tragedy that devastated the Byzantine Empire.
The discovery was only possible due to the analysis of human remains found in the ancient city of Jerash, Jordan.
The researchers studied eight teeth removed from burial chambers located beneath the city’s Roman racetrack.
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A fossil kept for years in a small museum in Montreal concealed 450-million-year-old soft tissue, a discovery that has only happened once before in history.
The space had been transformed into a mass grave between the 6th and 7th centuries, a period during which historical texts report a wave of sudden deaths.
Unprecedented Biological Evidence
Until now, science only had written accounts describing a deadly disease, but without concrete evidence of its cause.
The recently published research offers the first direct genetic proof of the presence of Y. pestis at the epicenter of the pandemic.
“For centuries, we relied on written accounts that described a devastating disease, but we had no concrete biological evidence of the plague’s presence. Our findings provide the missing piece in this puzzle,” explained Rays Jiang, associate professor at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health and lead author of the study.
The genomic analysis showed that the victims from Jerash carried nearly identical strains of the bacterium.
Therefore, the result confirms that the outbreak was rapid and devastating, in line with historical records reporting mass deaths.
Impact on the Byzantine Empire
The Plague of Justinian was first recorded in Pelusium, Egypt, before spreading throughout the Eastern Roman Empire.
Although traces of the bacterium had already been found in distant locations, no evidence had been located within the empire itself or so close to the center of the pandemic.
The site of Jerash, a prosperous and commercial city of the Byzantine Empire, helps to understand how ancient societies dealt with public health emergencies.
“The fact that a site built for entertainment and civic pride became a mass grave shows how urban centers were overwhelmed,” added Jiang.
A Long-Lasting History
Additionally, a complementary study led by the same team analyzed hundreds of ancient and modern genomes of Y. pestis.
The research demonstrated that the bacterium was circulating among human populations long before the outbreak recorded during Justinian’s time.
Another important revelation is that later plague pandemics, such as the Black Death of the 14th century and even modern cases, do not descend from a single strain.
They repeatedly emerged from animal reservoirs, at different times and places.
Differences from Covid-19
This pattern contrasts sharply with the Covid-19 pandemic. The novel coronavirus originated from a single contagion event and primarily evolved through transmission among humans. In contrast, the plague, according to researchers, resurfaced in multiple independent waves.
“We have been fighting the plague for thousands of years, and people still die from it today. Like Covid, it continues to evolve, and containment measures evidently cannot eliminate it. We must be cautious, but the threat will never disappear,” concluded Jiang.
Therefore, the discovery in Jerash not only confirms the origin of the first recorded pandemic but also reinforces the idea that Yersinia pestis remains a persistent threat throughout history.
With information from Info Money.
