Egypt
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
 Place |
 Time |
 Language |
 Disease |
 Animal |
 Keyword |
 Person |
 Nature event |
 River |
 Plague |
 Scribe |
 Social response |
Victims |
In Egypt, a total of 20 epidemic events are known so far. It is a large region in the eastern mediterranean.
Events
| Date | Summary | T |
|---|
| 1216, November 28 | In a letter a lethal disease in Egypt is mentioned, dated November 28, 1216. | אלמהדב אלמתסוק מן מצר... |
In a letter that has survived as a fragment, a member of one of Egypt’s Jewish communities informs the addressee that a lethal disease (Arab. amrāḍ, Hebr. negef, dever) has affected an unnamed place in Egypt. The letter is dated November 28, 1216 (Kislev 16, 1528 Seleucid era). (Translation: Undine Ott) |
| 1217, March | The fragment of a letter mentions a great epidemic (al-wabāʾ al-ʿaẓīm) which has struck the different parts of Cairo and has affected the physician and head of the Jews in Egypt (nagid), Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237), and his daughter. The fragment bears no date, but see here. | recto: ואמא חאלנא פאן אלמולי אלרייס הנגיד יג יק[ |
As to us, our lord, the Rayyis, the Nagid [may his] gl[ory be] in[creased], the chief [Rav] is seriously ill, may God heal him, and so is his daughter; he is unable to treat her, and confined to his bed; throughout the week he could not get up, neither at night, nor at daytime, which caused him great grief; may God grant him health. Yesterday, I received a note from his father-in-law, our master, Hananel, the chief justice, may his high position endure, saying: "These days are like the Last Judgment; everyone is occupied only with himself."
We strive to save ourselves from the great plague. In Miṣr [Fustat] and Cairo, there is no house belonging to important persons and, in fact, to anyone else, where not one or several persons are ill. People are in great trouble, occupied with themselves and unable to care for others, let alone for strangers. [3] |
| 1217, March | A letter mentions that a disease raged in Cairo, dated on March 17, 1217. | לקד כאן קלובנא ועיוננא [4]
מתטלעה אלי אללה סובחאנה ותעאלי |
A letter to Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237), the head of the Jews in Egypt (nagid), in Cairo, written by the teacher, cantor, and clerk Yehuda b. al-ʿAmmānī in Alexandria. Yehuda mentions that the Jewish community in Alexandria had been fasting and supplicating on behalf of the addressee's health and for God to lift the disease (Hebr. dever) that raged in Cairo and had afflicted Avraham, too. The letter is dated to the end of Adar 1528 Seleucid era (the month ended on March 17, 1217). (Translation: Undine Ott) |
| 1250 | Deaths among the French army in Egypt due to plague and famine | 1250 - Sed et prius pestilentia et inedia multi periere. Habuerunt enim caristiam et penuriam comestibilium rerum et victualium, nec talem dispositionem aeris habebant qualem in terra sua. [5] | (Translation needed) |
| 1300 – 1301 VN: 1003 cows |
Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle in Egypt in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301). A lot of cattle died. Subsequently, water wheels could not be operated anymore, draft animals were lacking in farming, and cattle prices hiked. Sugar cane could not be cultivated, thus sugar prices rose. (A marginal note in one manuscript adds: It was related that an elder [shaykh min ahl al-filāḥa] from Ushmūm [Ashmūn al-Rummān, in the Nile Delta] lost all but eight of his 1,011 Khaysiyya cows to the disease.) |  |
(Translation needed) |
| 1300 – 1301 | Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle, mainly in Egypt, in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301). Cattle prices hiked. Subsequently, water wheels could not be operated with cattle anymore. Sugar cane could not be cultivated and sugar prices hiked. |  |
(Translation needed) |
| 1300 – 1301 VN: 1003 cows |
Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle in Egypt in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301) that killed a great number of cows. It was related that the disease had killed 1,003 out of 1,021 Khaysiyya cows of an elder (shaykh) of Ushmūm-Ṭanāḥ (Ashmūn al-Rummān, in the Nile Delta). Cattle prices hiked and water wheels could not be operated with cattle anymore. | ' [8] | (Translation needed) |
| 1309, June – 1310, May | Epidemic (wabāʾ) in Cairo and other parts of Egypt in 709 AH (June 11, 1309 - May 30, 1310). Many people died, most of them were mamluks of amirs. |  |
(Translation needed) |
| 1347 – 1349 | The Black Death with presumed origins in China or Ethiopia, spreading to Syria and Egypt. Discussion of its spread via Caffa and Constantinopel, Genoa and reaching the Iberian Peninsula. | Die Meinungen über die Herkunft dieses Ereignisses gehen auseinander. Der Gewährsmann erwähnte nach dem Zeugnis mancher christlichen Kaufleute, die nach Almeriah kamen, daß die Krankheit in dem Lande Hata entstanden sei; Hata heißt in der persischen Sprache China, wie ich es von einem Gewährsmann aus Samarkand gelernt habe. China ist die Grenze der bewohnten Erde nach Osten zu. Die Seuche ist in China verbreitet und von da aus ist sie nach dem persischen Irak, den türkischen Ländern gewandert. Andere erwähnten nach dem Bericht christlicher Reisenden, daß sie in Abessinien entstanden sei und von dort aus in die Nachbarländer bis nach Ägypten und Syrien vorgedrungen sei. Diese verschiedenen Berichte beweisen, daß die Katastrophe allgemein alle Länder und Zonen heimgesucht hat. Der Grund der Verschiedenheit der Berichte ist, daß, wenn sie in einem an der (p. 42) Grenze der Erde liegenden Lande erscheint, dessen Einwohner denken, daß die Krankheit dort entstanden sei; und von dort aus verbreitet sich diese Ansicht. Es ist uns auch von vielen Seiten berichtet worden, daß sie in der genuesischen Festung Kaffa gewesen sei, die unlängst durch ein Heer von mohammedanischen Türken und Romäern belagert wurde, dann in Pera, dann in dem großen Konstantinopel, auf den Inseln von Armania an der Küste des Mittelmeeres, in Genua, in Frankreich. Sie griff weiter über nach dem fruchtbaren Andalusien, überschwemmte die Gegenden von Aragon, Barcelona, Valencia u. a., verbreitete sich in dem größten Teil des Königreichs Kastilien bis Sevilla im äußersten Westen, erreichte auch die Inseln des Mittelmeeres Sizilien, Sardinien, Mallorca, Ibiza, sprang über nach der gegenüberliegenden Küste von Afrika und ging von da aus weiter nach Westen. [10] | Opinions differ as to the origin of this event. According to the testimony of some Christian merchants who came to Almeriah, the author mentioned that the disease originated in the land of Hata; Hata means China in the Persian language, as I learnt from an author from Samarkand. China is the border of the inhabited earth to the east. The disease spread in China and from there it travelled to Persian Iraq and the Turkish countries. Others mentioned, according to the report of Christian travellers, that it originated in Abyssinia and from there spread to neighbouring countries as far as Egypt and Syria. These different reports prove that the catastrophe affected all countries and zones in general. The reason for the diversity of reports is that when it appears in a country lying on the (p. 42) frontier of the earth, its inhabitants think that the disease originated there; and from there this opinion spreads.
It has also been reported to us from many quarters that it was in the Genoese fortress of Kaffa, which was recently besieged by an army of Mohammedan Turks and Romæans, then in Pera, then in the great Constantinople, on the islands of Armania on the coast of the Mediterranean, in Genoa, in France. It spread further to fertile Andalusia, flooded the regions of Aragon, Barcelona, Valencia and others, spread through most of the kingdom of Castile as far as Seville in the far west, reached the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, Ibiza, jumped over to the opposite coast of Africa and from there continued westwards.. (Translation: Martin Bauch) |
| 1348, April – 1349, March | The Black Death in Egypt and other countries in 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349): People were taken by surprise by the epidemic (wabāʾ) whose death toll was high. The odors of death met them. People died quickly of the disease after buboes had appeared at their earlobes (marrāq). |   |
(Translation needed) |
| 1348, April – 1349, March 22 VN: 20.000 + 1000 + 500 |
From April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented plague hit the Middle East, and lasted about a year, and one third of Greater Syria’s and Egypt’s population died. | ' [12] | The Black Death in the Middle East: In the year 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented wave of plague hit the Middle East. It was the sixth plague which affected the Middle East in the Islamic period. It was called the Kinship Plague (Ṭāʿūn al-Ansāb) since the decease of a person was often followed by the death of some of his or her relatives. People developed pustules, spat yellow blood and died within 50 hours. When people started spitting blood they would bid farewell to their friends, close their shops, their burial would be prepared, and they would die in their homes. The daily death toll reached a maximum of ca. 500 in Aleppo, more than 1,000 in Damascus, and ca. 20,000 in Egypt. Mostly women, youths, poor people, and riffraff died. The plague wave lasted about a year, and ca. one third of Greater Syria’s (Shām) and Egypt’s population died. (Translation: Undine Ott) |
| 1361, October – 1362, October | A deadly disease (fanāʾ) hit Cairo, Alexandria and further places in 763 H (October 31, 1361 to October 19, 1362). Many people died. |  |
"In the year 763 AH (1362-1363 AD), a plague struck Egypt, Alexandria, and other places, causing the death of many people. In the year 775 AH (1373-1374 AD), a calamity befell in Ben Saghta.
(3) In Ben: many people died. (4) In: the number increased in Ben and decreased elsewhere. (5) Among the original inhabitants, many died, and in Ben, the number increased and decreased elsewhere." (Translation: ChatGPT-3.5) |
| 1362, October 20 – 1363, October 9 VN: 2000 |
A deadly disease (wabāʾ) hit Egypt in 764 H (October 20, 1362 to October 9, 1363), the maximum daily death toll reached 2,000. The disease was then transmitted to Greater Syria. | Mortalitas magna per totum fere mundum [14] | There was a great mortality in almost all of the world. (Translation: Thomas Wozniak) |
| 1367, August – 1368, August VN: 1000 |
A deadly disease (wabāʾ) hit Egypt in 769 H (August 28, 1367 to August 15, 1368). It lasted about four months. The daily death toll reached 1,000 and more. | ' [15] | (Translation needed) |
| 1374, March – 1374, September VN: 7000 + 12.000 |
Many people, mainly children, died of plague (ṭāʿūn, fanāʾ, wabāʾ) in Alexandria from Shawwāl 775 H (March 16 to April 14, 1374) to Rabīʿ I 776 H (August 10, 1374 to September 8, 1374). Up to 200 people died per day. In Shawwāl, 7,000 people perished within three days. In 775 H (1373), the Nile had failed to reach the necessary gauge (wafāʾ) during the summer flood, and many fields in Egypt could not be cultivated. Prices for grain and other foodstuffs rose in Egypt. Prices remained high also during the following year (776 H: June 13, 1374 to June 1, 1375) despite a sufficient Nile flood and the availability of grain. People became impoverished and died of hunger due to the rise in prices while grain merchants (khazzān) made huge profits. Finally, people revolted against inflation and famine. Plague came on top of famine. In Alexandria, 17,000 people reportedly died of plague, 12,000 of whom were male and female children. [...] |     |
(Translation needed) |
References
- ↑ • Anonymus: Princeton Geniza Project (PGP). , T-S 6J6.20, ed. by Alan Elbaum PGP
- ↑ • Anonymus: Princeton Geniza Project (PGP). , T-S NS 321.93, lines 8-14 recto, 3-6 verso, ed. by Shelomo D. Goitein, Chief Judge R. Ḥanan'el b. Samuel, In-law of R. Moses Maimonides (in Hebrew), in: Tarbiẕ 50, no. 10 (1980), pp. 371-395 PGP
- ↑ • Shelomo D. Goitein: A Mediterranean Society. The Jewish Communities of the World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, 5 vols.. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London 1967–1988 vol. 5, p. 114; translation modified by UO
- ↑ • Anonymus: Princeton Geniza Project (PGP). , T-S 16.305, lines 24-31 verso, ed. by Miriam Frenkel, The Compassionate and Benevolent. The Leading Elite in the Jewish Community of Alexandria in the Middle Ages (in Hebrew), Jerusalem 2006 PGP
- ↑ • Salimbene De Adam: Cronica / Salimbene de Adam (= Scrittori d'Italia). Bari 1966 , p. 486
- ↑ • Baybars al-Manṣūrī, Rukn al-Dīn: Zubdat al-fikra fī taʾrīkh al-hijra. Beirut 1998 , p. 351
- ↑ • al-Mufaḍḍal b. Abī l-Faḍāʾil: Al-Nahj al-sadīd wa-l-durr al-farīd fīmā baʿd Taʾrīkh Ibn al-ʿAmīd (= Patrologia Orientalis). Turnhout 1919-1929 , pt. 3, p. 30
- ↑ • al-Nuwayrī, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad: Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab, 33 vols.. Cairo 1964-1998 , vol. 31, ed. by Albāz al-ʿArīnī and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Ahwānī, Cairo 1992, p. 416
- ↑ • Baybars al-Manṣūrī, Rukn al-Dīn: Zubdat al-fikra fī taʾrīkh al-hijra. Beirut 1998 , p. 413
- ↑ • Dinānah, Taha: Die Schrift von Abī Ǧaʿfar Aḥmed ibn ʿAlī ibn Moḥammed ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḫātimah aus Almeriah über die Pest. (= Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin). 1927, pp. 27-81 , pp. 41-42
- ↑ • al-Nuwayrī, Muḥammad b. Qāsim al-Iskandarānī: Kitāb al-Ilmām bi-l-iʿlām fīmā jarat bihī l-aḥkām wa-l-umūr al-maqḍiyyah fī waqʿat al-Iskandariyya. 7 vols.. Hyderabad , vol. 4 (1970), pp. 126-127; 143.
- ↑ • Ibn Ḥabīb, Badr al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. ʿUmar al-Dimashqī al-Ḥalabī: Tadhkirat al-nabīh fī ayyām al-Manṣūr wa-banīhi. 3 vols.. Cairo , vol. 3 (1986), pp. 110-112
- ↑ • al-Nuwayrī, Muḥammad b. Qāsim al-Iskandarānī: Kitāb al-Ilmām bi-l-iʿlām fīmā jarat bihī l-aḥkām wa-l-umūr al-maqḍiyyah fī waqʿat al-Iskandariyya. 7 vols.. Hyderabad , vol. 4 (1970), p. 127.
- ↑ • Ibn Ḥabīb, Badr al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. ʿUmar al-Dimashqī al-Ḥalabī: Tadhkirat al-nabīh fī ayyām al-Manṣūr wa-banīhi. 3 vols.. Cairo , vol. 3 (1986), p. 259
- ↑ • Ibn Ḥabīb, Badr al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. ʿUmar al-Dimashqī al-Ḥalabī: Tadhkirat al-nabīh fī ayyām al-Manṣūr wa-banīhi. 3 vols.. Cairo , vol. 3 (1986), p. 312
- ↑ • al-Nuwayrī, Muḥammad b. Qāsim al-Iskandarānī: Kitāb al-Ilmām bi-l-iʿlām fīmā jarat bihī l-aḥkām wa-l-umūr al-maqḍiyyah fī waqʿat al-Iskandariyya. 7 vols.. Hyderabad , vol. 3 (1970), pp. 253-254; vol. 4 (1970), p. 127-129; 143; vol. 6 (1973), pp. 423-425.
 
|
Cities of the Middle East and Greater Syria | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
|
|
Regions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
|
| This is an EpiMedDat page, and outside EpiMedDat it is a mirrored or cloned page or similar. Please note that the page may then be outdated (13.07.2025) and no longer relate to the content. The original page is or was located at http://epimeddat.net/wiki/Egypt |
|