[A] Dr Daniel Stanley, an oceanographer, has found volcanic shards in Egypt
that he believes are linked to the explosion. Computer simulations by Mike
Rampino, a climate modeler from New York University, show that the resulting ash
cloud could have plunged the area into darkness, as well as generating lightning
and hail, two of the 10 plagues. [B] The cloud could have also reduced the
rainfall, causing a drought. If the Nile had then been poisoned by the effects
of the eruption, pollution could have turned it red, as happened in a recent
environmental disaster in America. The same pollution could have driven millions
of frogs on to the land, the second plague. On land the frogs would die,
removing the only obstacle to an explosion of flies and lice--the third and
fourth plagues. The flies could have transmitted fatal diseases to cattle (the
fifth plague) and boils and blisters to humans (the sixth plague). [C] Moses,
which will be broadcast in December 2002, will suggest that much of the Bible
story can be explained by a single natural disaster, a huge volcanic eruption on
the Greek island of Santorini in the 16th century BC. [D] The hour long
documentary argues that even the story of the parting of the Red Sea, which
allowed Moses to lead the Hebrews to safety while the pursuing Egyptian army was
drowned, may have its origins in the eruption. It repeats the theory that "Red
Sea" is a mistranslation of the Sea of Reeds, a much shallower swamp. [E] The
programme tells the story of how Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt after a
series of plagues had devastated the country. But it also uses new scientific
research to argue that many of the events surrounding the exodus could have been
triggered by the eruption, which would have been a thousand times more powerful
than a nuclear bomb. [F] Computer simulations show that the Santorini
eruption could have triggered a 600ft-high tidal wave, traveling at about 400
miles an hour, which would have been 6ft high and a hundred miles long when it
reached the Egyptian delta. Such an event would have been remembered for
generations, and may have provided the inspiration for the story. [G] Fresh
evidence that the Biblical plagues and the parting of the Red Sea were natural
events rather than myths or miracles is to be presented in a new BBC
documentary. Order: