From 250 to 271 AD the Plague of Cyprian swept through much of Europe and into Africa. Although it affected many areas, the best records of the pandemic come from Rome. An estimated 5,000 people per day died there during the height of the illness. In the end, one-quarter of Rome’s population including Emperor Claudius II Gothicus were lost.

At the time, it was known as the “end of world” pandemic. It was referred to that way by the then bishop of Carthage, Saint Cyprian for whom the pandemic is named. Cyprian wrote that it could be a sign of the “passing away of the world.” Modern researchers believe that the virus to blame for the plague may have been smallpox, according to the Daily Mail.

Between 1997 and 2012 the Funerary Complex of Harwa and Akhimenru was excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission to Luxor (MAIL) team led by Francesco Tiradritti. There they unearthed the evidence of a mass quarantine site dating back to the Plague of Cyprian.

The monument was built in the seventh century B.C.E. in honor of an Egyptian grand steward named Harwa. The site in Luxor, which was called Thebes in ancient Egypt, appears to have been in continuous use for nearly a 1,000 years until the third century when it was used as a plague-burial site. After that time the place had a dark reputation and was not used again.

In addition to large numbers of human remains, the researchers also found kilns which were used to turn limestone into lime to cover the bodies. Residents of Thebes were apparently desperate enough that many of the original artifacts contained in the memorial, including coffins, were used to fire the kilns.

The Plague of Cyprian, was a significant contributing factor to the “Crisis of the Third Century” in the Roman Empire. A combination of disease, invasion, civil war and economic depression crippled Rome and by 260 the empire had split into three competing states.

The findings of Tiradritti and the MAIL team can be found in Egyptian Archaeology magazine.