The Egyptian plagues and the beginnings of pest control in the Ancient Orient
1990
Levinson, H. (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Verhaltensphysiologie, Seewiesen (Germany, F.R.)) | Levinson, A.
Inscriptions concerning pest calamities in the Ancient Orient, found in Assyrian records (8th-7th century B.C.) and the Old Testament (written 10-6th century B.C.), suggested that such plagues are ordained and averted by divine will only. Pestaverting attempts in Dynastic Egypt were based on threatening messages and pictures as well as certain protective devices, such as depilation and cleaning of the body, application of lice-repelling ointments, avoidance of mosquito bites by sleeping towers or network coverings and employment of earth dust to prevent the infestation of stored grain by insects and mites. Fumigations by fragrant resins and herbaceous drugs for ritual and pest-averting purposes were performed in ancient Egypt and Babylon since the 26th-20th century B.C. and in Palestine since the 13th prechristian century. Several ingredients of the above incense blends and ointments act as repellents, insectistatics or insecticides for various species. Early chemical measures of pest control, intending repulsion rather than extermination of detrimental organisms, were recorded in the Ebers Papyrus (written in Egypt about 1550 B.C.)
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