Incredible story of how one FART may have killed 10,000 people in Ancient Egypt

23.09.2019 14:34

TheSun.co.uk

A SINGLE FART caused the violent deaths of 10,000 people back in Ancient Egypt.

That’s according to one Roman historian, who wrote that a random trump was responsible for a deadly riot against an unpopular king 2,500 years ago.

Brooklyn Museum Artist’s impression of Jerusalem in the 6th Century BC[/caption]

Flavius Josephus chronicled the history of the Jewish War against the Romans in his book ‘Wars of the Jews’, published 75 AD.

In it, he describes a bonkers tale in which a toot from a soldier triggered a revolt against King Apries of Egypt.

In Jerusalem between 600 and 500 BC, a cohort of heavily armed Roman soldiers were guarding a temple during the celebration of Passover, Josephus writes in Book II, Chapter XI of his book.

The Romans – who held control of a restless Jerusalem at the time – apparently always kept guard at festivals to prevent any disturbances.

Walters Art Museum A bust of King Apries of Egypt. A deadly riot in Jerusalem during Apries’ reign was apparently sparked by a Roman soldier’s fart[/caption]

According to Josephus: “One of the soldiers pulled back his garment, and cowering down after an indecent manner, turned his breech to the Jews.”

The vulgar guard then “spake such words as you might expect upon such a posture.”

While it’s not clear exactly what Josephus meant by this, some have read his comments to mean the solider farted at the crowd.

Whatever he did, the “indignation” of it all sparked a riot as members of the public attempted to attack the offending Roman.

Reinforcements were called, and the crowd became a crush.

“The violence with which they crowded to get out was so great, that they trod upon each other,” Josephus writes.

Getty - Contributor A vulgar Roman guard is said to have farted at a crowd of worshippers in Jerusalem, sparking a riot in the 6th Century BC[/caption]

A brief history of Ancient Egypt

Here's everything you need to know...

The Ancient Egyptians were an advanced civilisation who at one point owned a huge portion of the globe
The civilisation began about 5,000 years ago when ancient humans began building villages along the River Nile
It lasted for about 3,000 years and saw the building of complex cities centuries ahead of their time – as well as the famous Great Pyramids
The Ancient Egyptians were experts at farming and construction
They invented a solar calendar, and one of the world’s earliest writing systems: The hieroglyph
The Egyptians were ruled by kings and queens called pharaohs
Religion and the afterlife were a huge part of Ancient Egyptian culture. They had over 2,000 gods
Pharaohs built huge elaborate tombs to be buried in, some of which were pyramids – at the time among the largest buildings in the world
The Egyptians believed in life after death, and important people’s corpses were mummified to preserve their bodies for the afterlife
The Ancient Egytpian empire fell due to a mix of factors, including wars with other empires and a 100-year period of drought and starvation

“They squeezed one another, till ten thousand of them were killed.”

Josephus’ account depicts a time of serious unrest is ancient Jerusalem.

He wrote his account a good few hundred years after the event is supposed to have taken place, so take it with a pinch of salt.

And as with any word-of-mouth account, keep in mind the numbers may have been exaggerated.