Disaster strikes as the first plague of tularemia or rabbit fever breaks out in the ancient Hittite Empire in the 14th century BCE. Caused by bacterium Francisella tularensis the plague lasts twenty years and mortality is high. Being resourceful people the Hittites turn the plague loose upon their enemies, creating the first known occurrence of biological warfare.
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Rabbit fever biological warfare has a simple goal - weaken the enemy. Although people didn't die in the numbers of the infamous Black Plague, the disease can still take out an entire army with severe symptoms and a death rate up to 50%.
The plague begins with an outbreak of Francisella tularensis originating in Canaan along the Arwad-Euphrates trading route. The route runs from the small island Arwad off the coast of today's Lebanon, inland to or along the River Euphrates in today's Iraq.
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Trade routes are the first roads, maintained and kept secure by the host land or collective armed forces. Some people bring their own warriors. The most famous of the early trade routes are the amber roads, a primary one leading from the Baltic coast to the Mediterranean.
Along the trade routes one can get a meal, traveling snacks, accommodation, blankets, supplies and whatever one's pleasure would be. At growing settlements, tired animals can be rested or traded for fresh ones. Local blacksmiths make or sharpen tools and weapons. An economy springs up around the traveled roads for the benefit of all.
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With trade a busy and close contact activity, the rabbit fever plague has fertile growing grounds. The fever spreads especially from ticks, fleas, mosquitoes and other insects who bite an infected host, then transfer to another animal, such as human.
Rabbit fever symptoms include:
skin ulcers
swollen & painful lymph glands
inflamed eyes
sore throat
mouth sores
diarrhea
pneumonia
fever
chills
headache
muscle aches
joint pain
dry cough
progressive weakness
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The initial host is often a rabbit, hare, squirrel, rat or other rodent, but don't blame the bunny. It's only the carrier of the carrier. Humans can also pick up tularemia by handling dead animals, drinking or eating contaminated substances or inhaling airborne bacteria.
The plague first breaks out in Hattusa, capital of the Hittite Empire. Although many regions of the ancient world suffer outbreaks of rabbit fever in the next decades, the Egyptians and Assyrians establish a quarantine along their borders, and show no losses. Evidence suggests the Egyptians have dealt with plague before.
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Meanwhile in Anatolia, the royal lineage is in danger of dying out due to to rabbit fever, as the disease attacks kings and beggars alike. The King is dead of the plague and so is the crown prince. The succeeding King, second son Muršili II, writes pleas to the Gods.
"All of the land of Hatti is dying, so that no one prepares the sacrificial loaf and libation for you [gods]. The plowmen who used to work the fields of the gods have died, so that no one works or reaps the fields of the gods any longer. The miller-women who used to prepare sacrificial loaves of the gods have died, so that they no longer make the sacrificial loaves.
As for the corral and the sheepfold from which one used to cull the offerings of sheep and cattle – the cowherds and shepherds have died, and the corral and sheepfold are empty. So it happens that the sacrificial loaves, libation[s], and animal sacrifices are cut off. And you come to us, oh gods, and hold us culpable in this matter!"
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The plague lasts twenty years and many Anatolians and others have died. All attempts to curb its spread, from sacrificial rituals to banning donkeys, have met with failure. Aegean sailors returning home also spread the disease through ticks or fleas on themselves, infected livestock or ship rats.
Muršili II is already an unpopular King when he assumes the throne. He's young and inexperienced, mocked by his enemies and fair-weather friends alike. Rebellions erupt throughout the kingdom.
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The Kaska mountain people harry him without mercy. Nearby aggressors, the Arzawans of Western Anatolia, think the Hittites weak from the disease. They attack, only to be tricked into bringing infected rams back to their villages and succumbing to illness themselves.
Other cases of biological warfare during plague is the practice of sending prisoners infected with smallpox or plague back home to their families. History also records instances of hurling infected corpses of humans and animals over walls of a city under attack.
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Another type of biological warfare used by ancients is tainted meat, corpses or feces to poison the water in wells or vital sources of a city under siege. Epidemic disease quickly kills people already suffering from overcrowding, hunger and siege burnout.
Through his long reign Muršili II proves himself more than capable of running a Kingdom with strength and diplomacy. He sets out on punitive campaigns against the mountain Kaskians and the Arzawans and solidifies the borders. He lays down policies to stabilize and fortify the Empire.
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Muršili II has children and his children have children, thus securing the kingly line. The Hittite Empire lasts a couple of centuries longer, weathers a series of disasters and finally ends in 1180 BCE as the last of the Hittites merge into societies around them.
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