Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
School of Theoretical Physics
Statutory Public Lecture 2022
Prof. Werner Nahm - A Tale of Two Volcanoes
The volcanic caldera of the Santorini island is one of the most impressive sites in Europe, equally important for tourism, science and history. A Minoan town was covered by five meters of pumice and volcanic ash, which preserved paintings as colorful and accomplished as those of Pompeii.
For decades the exact time of the eruption and its historical significance is the topic of heated controversies among archaeologists, historians and geologists. Mike Baillie from QUB jumped in the middle of the fray with an attack on the methodology of all teams who had identified the volcanic signals in ice cores.
He was right. The huge volcanic eruption in winter 1628/27 BC was not due to Santorini, but to the Aniakchak volcano in the Aleutian island chain. Its site is equally impressive, a National Monument of the USA, but little known by the public due to its location in Alaska. For history it is as significant as Santorini, because it provided exact dates for Babylonian chronology. The Santorini eruption happened three quarters of a century later, but its exact time is still unknown.
There is a long-standing controversy about its possible link to the Egyptian 'Tempest Stele'. Some think that its text was purely symbolic, because no eruption could cause a tempest in all of Egypt. This is true, but it will be argued that the name of the stele is a misnomer. What it really is about is the volcanic boom that was heard all over the Nile valley. It was understood as a signal that the natural order was breaking down and led to a social upheaval. The young pharaoh Ahmose was up to the challenge. Using unarmed soldiers and sufficient money, he quickly restored order.
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
School of Theoretical Physics
Statutory Public Lecture 2022
Prof. Werner Nahm - A Tale of Two Volcanoes
The volcanic caldera of the Santorini island is one of the most impressive sites in Europe, equally important for tourism, science and history. A Minoan town was covered by five meters of pumice and volcanic ash, which preserved paintings as colorful and accomplished as those of Pompeii.
For decades the exact time of the eruption and its historical significance is the topic of heated controversies among archaeologists, historians and geologists. Mike Baillie from QUB jumped in the middle of the fray with an attack on the methodology of all teams who had identified the volcanic signals in ice cores.
He was right. The huge volcanic eruption in winter 1628/27 BC was not due to Santorini, but to the Aniakchak volcano in the Aleutian island chain. Its site is equally impressive, a National Monument of the USA, but little known by the public due to its location in Alaska. For history it is as significant as Santorini, because it provided exact dates for Babylonian chronology. The Santorini eruption happened three quarters of a century later, but its exact time is still unknown.
There is a long-standing controversy about its possible link to the Egyptian 'Tempest Stele'. Some think that its text was purely symbolic, because no eruption could cause a tempest in all of Egypt. This is true, but it will be argued that the name of the stele is a misnomer. What it really is about is the volcanic boom that was heard all over the Nile valley. It was understood as a signal that the natural order was breaking down and led to a social upheaval. The young pharaoh Ahmose was up to the challenge. Using unarmed soldiers and sufficient money, he quickly restored order.
