Plagues of Egypt. Historical Hebrew Haggadah manuscript depicting the plague of locusts, one of the ten Plagues of Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, these plagues were inflicted upon Egypt by God in order to persuade the Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. The Haggadah is a jewish text that ses out the order for the Passover Seder (feast). Image from an Hispano-Moorish Haggadah published in Castile, Spain, circa 1300.