Hippodrome, Jerash, JordanPhoto courtesy of Ray H. Y. Jiang
Posted on 05/04/2026 9:12:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
According to a statement released by the University of South Florida, a mass grave containing the remains of victims of the Plague of Justinian (A.D. 541–750) has been identified at the site of Jerash in northern Jordan by a team of researchers led by Rays H.Y. Jiang of the University of South Florida. Hundreds of people were buried within several days in this mass grave dug in the city's hippodrome. "By linking biological evidence from the bodies to the archaeological setting, we can see how disease affected real people within their social and environmental context," Jiang said. Examination of the remains from the grave suggests that these individuals lived in different areas across the region, but had been brought together in a single burial. "Pandemics aren't just biological events, they're social events, and this study shows how disease intersects with daily life, movement, and vulnerability," Jiang concluded. To read about an earlier form of the bacterium that caused the Justinian plague, go to "Bronze Age Plague," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2018.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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Hippodrome, Jerash, JordanPhoto courtesy of Ray H. Y. Jiang
Jerash is a 3rd Century Corinthian city
I was there in 1988
Jerash is a 3rd Century Corinthian city
I was there in 1988
This has long since been proven to be Yersinia Pestis (Black Plague).
I think we should move away from the term “Byzantine” - this was the “continuing Roman empire in Constantinople”.
they continued to call themselves Romaoai, their dates were AUC - Ab urbe condita (’from the foundation of the city... of Rome’) and they were proud of their history which they saw as continuing.
Their enemies and partners - whether the Arabs or the Seljuk or the ottomans or the Bulgars or the Rus or the Serbians, etc. all called them Romans.
it was only in the past few centuries, well after Rome fell in 1453, did Germanic scholars call them ‘Byzantine’ in disdain.
By separating them, we disconnect them from our consciousness and do them a great disservice imho
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