Mass Burial Site In Jordan Offers New Insights Into History's First Major Pandemic

A team of researchers led by the United States has confirmed something that historians have long wondered about. They have verified the first Mediterranean mass grave linked to the world's earliest recorded pandemic. This discovery gives new and clear details about the plague of Justinian, a deadly disease that killed millions of people in the Byzantine Empire between the sixth and eighth centuries.

This research was published in February in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Scientists say the results provide a rare and accurate opportunity to understand the lives, movements, and suffering of people during that terrible epidemic.

Evidence From A Mass Grave

The research team examined a mass burial site in the city of Jerash, located in present-day Jordan. DNA extracted from the bodies clearly indicated that the grave was formed as a result of a single burial, rather than a cemetery that gradually filled over many years. The same team had previously established that the bacterium causing the plague was Yersinia pestis.

The study went beyond just the disease. It also focused on the lives of those who died, how they lived, how vulnerable they were, and why they were in Jerash. Jerash was an important trading center at the time and also the epicenter of the epidemic, which lasted from 541 to 750 AD.

Rays Jiang, lead author of the study and associate professor at the University of South Florida, explained that previous research had only identified the plague bacteria. According to her, the Jerash site now transforms that genetic evidence into a human story, revealing who died and how a city coped during the crisis.

She also noted that epidemics are not just physical events, but also social events. By combining biological evidence from the bodies with the archaeological environment, the team was able to understand how the disease affected people in their social and environmental contexts. She added that this helps us view historical epidemics not just as written records, but as real human experiences.

The study was conducted by a joint team of archaeologists, historians, and geneticists from the University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Sydney. Jiang and her team examined DNA extracted from the teeth of the victims.

The research revealed that the deceased were of diverse ages and backgrounds. This suggests that the disease has confined and concentrated a population that normally moved around. Jiang explained that this situation was similar to the one created by the halt in travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers believe this discovery provides a unique and important opportunity to understand the impact of one of the world's earliest major epidemics. This mass grave in Jerash tells not only the story of a disease, but also the story of a city, its people, and their resilience in the face of one of history's deadliest crises.