The last plague was the death of all the first born, humans and cattle. We are told that it came from bacteria in grain that must have gotten wet during the rain. The Egyptians would have fed the children first, which was with contaminated grain. Not much of that theory is correct. The first of the grain would not go to the children, unless critics believe the Egyptians ate raw grain. Food was made with the grain, which was done by individual families at individual times. The storage bins were maintained by the Egyptian government, and was given out to the citizens only during famine. The rest of the time the people bought or raised their own grain. It might be feasible that one storage bin might have become infected, but they were built throughout Egypt, and not everyone would have been given grain out of the same bin. As for feeding the children first, in a time of crises the Egyptians were more apt to sacrifice the first born than to feed them. In times of famine the Egyptians have been known to eat their children, rather than feed them. The Egyptian Admonitions of Ipuwer tell us that the children were not considered first:
I have separated him and his household slaves, and men will say when
they hear it: “Cakes are lacking for most children; there is no food
[. . .]. What is the taste of it like today?”
When bread was scarce, the adults ate first. That was common practice all over the ancient world. It is a mistake to compare them with more compassionate modern man. Female children and women were not important and were actually considered property along with livestock and land. Male children were treated somewhat better, unless they were too far removed from the “first born” to ever become the heir. Even the Israelites ate their children during the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and later the Romans. Exodus states that, while Egyptians and their livestock were afflicted, the Israelites and their animals were not. The theory is that physical distance and cultural practices may have effectively insulated the Israelites from most of the plagues. They were not completely isolated from Egyptians, especially the shepherds in the delta, and the Egyptians actually adopted many of the Hebrew customs and practices. The Israelites were isolated from populated Egypt, but not from Egyptian stockmen. The Nile delta was the only large area set aside for cattle grazing. The amount of land in central and upper Egypt was limited and used for farming. The Egyptians grazed their cattle in The Delta just like the Hebrews did.
If the plagues must depend on natural events and diseases, it would seem to have been something that would create all of the phenomena that would normally occur within years of each other. The frogs could possibly have been leaving toxic water, that could have possibly caused the fish to die, creating an over population in the insects that the fish would have eaten. The loss of the fish population would not account for an abundance of lice, boils, thunder, hail, rain, locusts or darkness. Perhaps we are to believe that the lice were fish lice and suddenly became attracted to humans and livestock when the fish were gone. It is possible that a swarm of locusts could be so thick as to block out the sun, for a few minutes. It is not very likely a swarm of locusts would be mistaken for thick darkness. Locusts very seldom cause rain, hail or thunder, much less all three at once. Something caused all of the events that normally happen within decades of each other, to happen within a few days of each other. It’s difficult to believe that flies, lice and gnats are so prejudiced against Jews; they won’t even go near their cattle. The Bible calls them miracles. For those who don’t believe in miracles, we need a scientific explanation. That scientific explanation most likely came in the form of a volcanic eruption. The majority of archaeologists agree on some type of seismic activity, although some have attempted to find the source in Arabia. The reason is the Biblical Amelikites, who are believed to have been Arabians escaping an earthquake. That is still a possibility, although no evidence of that has yet been found. It seems more likely that something took place that didn’t reach into the area of Goshen where the Israelites were, while devastating the Northern capital, as well as other areas of the delta. That is exactly what some historians have concluded from evidence discovered in Egypt and especially the Nile delta. It was the result of a volcanic eruption 500 miles to the north of Egypt, on the island of Thera. The Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, dated around 1500 BCE, point to an epidemic disease with symptoms similar to the plague. It tells of a disease that “has produced a bubo, and the pus has petrified, the disease has hit.” The Egyptian Tempest stele has been identified with the plagues, and dated around 1500 BCE. Some historians date it to 1550 BCE, the beginning of the reign of Ahmose, although that would be the year the Hyksos left Egypt. There are, at present, no inscriptions telling of a tempest during the battles with the Hyksos, and Ahmose apparently reigned only 24 years. If the Tempest Stele was erected during His reign, it would not reflect the Exodus plagues.
It would probably be inaccurate to use the reference in the inscription to gold and silver as evidence of the Hebrews “spoiling the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:35-36).It was most likely an offering to the gods, which is apparent in the line that states” and let them make a palace sanctuary that I may dwell in.” There is a text that refers to placing gold around the necks of slaves, which was common during disasters. The Bible uses the term “borrowed from the Egyptians,” and the use of spoiled could mean simply that the Israelites did not return the objects.During famines, droughts and other calamities, the children are usually the first to die. They are less attentive to survival than adults. They were no different than children today in that they pay little attention to anything dangerous, and have hardly any survival instincts. They need adult supervision. Another reason would be a lack of food, in which case the adults would have fed themselves first.
The Egyptians were known to sacrifice their first born, just as the Hebrews did prior to Abraham. Since almost every animal was sacred to the Egyptians, they seldom used them. They were also known to eat their children in times of famine. Sacrifice would be the most probable, since it concerned the first born only. Between starvation and sacrifice and infants being abandoned, a lot of first born deaths could be accounted for.
Modern Archeology and the Bible 
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