1348-04-00-Middle East
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| Date startStart date of the disease. | 1348-04 | + |
| Date endEnd date of the disease. | 1349-03-22 Saturday | + |
| SeasonSeason (spring, summer, fall or winter) | ||
| Date otherOther mentioned dates. | ||
| PlacePlace(s), city or location of the disease. | Aleppo, Damascus | |
| RegionHistorical region(s) | Greater Syria, Middle East | |
| CountryCurrent country | Egypt | |
| RiverMentioned river(s) | ||
| Natural eventMentioned natural event(s) | ||
| PersonMentioned persons(s) | ||
| GroupGroup(s) of people mentioned | ||
| VictimIndication of victims | 20.000 + 1000 + 500 absolute | + |
| AnimalMentioned animal(s) | ||
| DiseaseMentioned disease(s) | Fanāʾ, Plague, Symptoms, Wabāʾ, Ṭāʿūn | |
| Epidemic waveAssociated epidemic wave | Black Death | |
| Social responseSocial response that happened in reaction to the disease | ||
| LanguageLanguage of the original text | Arabic | |
| KeywordFurther keyword(s) | Adolescents, Blood spitting, Epidemics, Mortality, Poor people, Transmission route, Women, Ṭāʿūn | |
| last edited | 23. 12. 2025 by EpiMedDat-Bot. |
From April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented plague hit the Middle East, and lasted about a year, and one third of Greater Syria’s and Egypt’s population died.
Text originalOriginal text
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Text translationEnglish translation of the text
The Black Death in the Middle East: In the year 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented wave of plague hit the Middle East. It was the sixth plague which affected the Middle East in the Islamic period. It was called the Kinship Plague (Ṭāʿūn al-Ansāb) since the decease of a person was often followed by the death of some of his or her relatives. People developed pustules, spat yellow blood and died within 50 hours. When people started spitting blood they would bid farewell to their friends, close their shops, their burial would be prepared, and they would die in their homes. The daily death toll reached a maximum of ca. 500 in Aleppo, more than 1,000 in Damascus, and ca. 20,000 in Egypt. Mostly women, youths, poor people, and riffraff died. The plague wave lasted about a year, and ca. one third of Greater Syria’s (Shām) and Egypt’s population died.
