Archaeologists Unearth Remains of Egyptian Epidemic

Archaeologists have unearthed the remain of an Egyptian epidemic known as the Plague of Cyprian - a disease so terrible that one ancient writer believed the world was coming to an end.

In the ancient city of Thebes, which is now modern-day Luxor, the Italian Archaeological Mission to Luxor (MAIL) team discovered what appear to be victims of the widespread disease covered in lime, which was used as a disinfectant.

As reported by Live Science, kilns used to produce the lime were also found, alongside a bonfire where victims of the infectious disease - dubbed the "end of worlds" pandemic - were burned.

Led by Francesco Tiradritti, the researchers excavated the tomb known as the Funerary Complex of Harwa and Akhimenru between 1997 and 2012. The monument was originally built in the seventh century B.C. for a grand steward named Harwa, and then used as a burial site after his death. Once the "end of worlds" pandemic hit, the area went untouched.

The use of the complex "for the disposal of infected corpses gave the monument a lasting bad reputation and doomed it to centuries of oblivion until tomb robbers entered the complex in the early 19th century," Tiradritti wrote.

The tomb was put to use from 250 to 271 AD, during which time the Plague of Cyprian rocked the Roman Empire - including Egypt - killing up to 5,000 people each day. By the end of its reign, it claimed a quarter of Rome's population and spread across what is now modern-day Europe and into Africa.

It's named after Saint Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage at the time, who deemed it as an apocalyptic sign.

"The kingdom of God, beloved brethren, is beginning to be at hand," he wrote. He also noted symptoms, which included vomiting, bloody eyes, bowel "discharge" and "in some cases the feet or some parts of the limbs are taken off by the contagion."

While the disease did not cause the world to end, it did severely weaken the Roman Empire.

Though some believe it to be smallpox,Tiradritti cautions that the disease would be impossible to identify by extracting DNA from the bodies.

The research was published in the journal Egyptian Archaeology.