Historical plagues led to revolutions – could coronavirus do the same?

From an Ancient Egyptian plague to the Black Death and Spanish flu, epidemics have often spurred societal transformations. Understanding why can help us create a better world after covid-19

By Laura Spinney

FIRST the pharaoh changed his name, from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten. Then he decreed that a new capital should be built far away from the old one. And in this city, one god should be worshipped, forsaking all others: the sun god Aten. Akhenaten’s heresy didn’t last long, ending with his death less than 20 years later. It was a blip in the 3000 years of cultural stability that characterises Ancient Egypt, but its enduring trace in art and thought places it among the most debated religious revolutions of all time. One common explanation is that Akhenaten was fed up with the powerful priests in the old capital of Thebes, who worshipped many gods.

But what if he was actually fleeing an epidemic? The idea isn’t new, but it has enjoyed a revival since covid-19 arrived. Having lived through the worst pandemic in a century, many Egyptologists and archaeologists are looking back with fresh eyes. They have seen first-hand the social impact a pandemic can have – the exacerbation of inequality, rejection of authority, xenophobia and search for meaning – and realised that these probably aren’t without precedent.

“Communicable disease plays a cultural and economic role that is repeated through time, up to the present day,” says Louise Hitchcock at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Witnessing how tightly entwined social discord, viral ideas and real viruses are, Hitchcock and others are asking if this could explain major cultural shifts throughout history, from Akhenaten’s time to the Black Death and 1918 flu. Could it even explain some of the ideological crosswinds that buffet us now, and that may shape the post-covid world?

The …