The Hittite Plague Through the Lens of Archaeological Evidence

Towards the end of the Bronze Age, a silent and insidious threat emerged in Anatolia: the Hittite Plague. This disease, considered one of the first epidemics in history, spread across most of the Hittite lands in a short time. So much so that it took only a few years for the Hittite society to be devastated by the Hittite Plague.

What is the Hittite Plague? The Emergence of the Hittite Plague

The Hittite Plague was a devastating epidemic that ravaged the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, around the 14th century BC. It is considered one of the earliest epidemics associated with a fatal disease believed to be tularemia.1

In Hittite texts from the 14th century BC, the existence of an epidemic disease that caused many deaths was mentioned. These historical records reveal that the epidemic spread rapidly in both the civil and military spheres of the empire.

In addition to heavy deaths, the Hittite Plague also caused many problems in the administrative and social order of the Hittite society. The epidemic broke out at a time when serious military and political activities were intensifying. The Hittites were a warrior and highly civilized community. They were surrounded by enemies. They clashed repeatedly with the Egyptians, Assyrians and many others. The movement of people and the capture of enemy cities would materially increase the scope of the pandemic disaster.

Historical sources imply that the Hittite Plague probably spread through some form of contact with neighboring regions, most likely through warfare or trade. However, the dominant view is that it was moved to Anatolia because of the Egyptian captives brought to Hittite lands from the Levant region and the Hittite soldiers accompanying them.2

The exact origins and disease vectors continue to be debated by historians and epidemiologists. However, there is a general consensus among all researchers that the epidemic significantly affected the Hittite civilization.

The Hand of Nergal
In the mid-14th century BC, the Hittite Plague also spread to Alašiya (modern-day Cyprus). The ruler of Alašiya mentioned this disaster in the Amarna letter (EA 35) to the Egyptian pharaoh. The epidemic on the island was so severe that the ruler of Alašiya mentioned to the pharaoh that there were no male workers left. Of particular interest is the use of the phrase “Hand of Nergal” in reference to the plague in the letter. Nergal is known in Mesopotamian mythology as the god of death. Naming the epidemic after him indicates that people were shaken not only physically but also socially and economically. The use of Nergal’s name suggests that people perceived this epidemic as a divine punishment.
Image Credit: Udimu (Wikimedia)

… I send to you 500 talents (approximately 15 tons) of copper. … Don’t worry that the quantity of copper is small, my brother. The Hand of Nergal is now in my land. He has killed all the men of my country. There is not a single copper-worker. …

Amarna letter (EA 35)

Definition and Symptoms of Tularemia Disease

Tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever”, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. It is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans. The disease is highly infectious and can be spread through a variety of routes, including bites of insects, direct contact with infected animals, inhalation of contaminated dust, and ingestion of contaminated water or food.3

Hittite Plague: Francisella tularensis
Francisella tularensis
Image Credit: NIAID (Flickr) ©️CC BY 2.0

Signs and symptoms related to tularemia depend on the route of infection but generally include fever, chills, headache, muscle pain and fatigue. With increased severity, it results in respiratory complications, ulcerations on the skin or mucous membranes, swollen lymph nodes, and eventually pneumonia. Without treatment, tularemia can be fatal but is easily treatable with antibiotics when detected early.

The described signs and symptoms of the Hittite Plague are similar to those of tularemia as recorded in historical texts. Modern research assumes that the disease that plagued the Hittite Empire was tularemia because very rapid onset of fever, severe weakness, and high mortality rates are consistent with outbreaks of this disease.

Geographical and Political Situation of the Hittite Empire During the Plague

In the 14th century BC, the Hittite Empire was one of the leading political powers in the Near East. The empire spread its influence towards Syria and the Levant by gaining control over important cities such as Carchemish and Aleppo. The Hittite Empire’s borders, stretching from the Aegean to Eastern Anatolia and from the Black Sea to Mesopotamia, enabled the Hittites to dominate the trade routes. This contributed greatly to both economic prosperity and cultural interaction in the region.

Map of the Hittite Empire at the end of the 14th century BC.
Image Credit: Ennomus (Wikimedia)

Politically, the Hittite Empire was governed by a monarchical system. The king was not only a political leader, but also had important religious responsibilities. The Empire sometimes entered into conflicts with neighboring states such as Egypt, Mitanni and Assyria, and sometimes formed alliances with them by resorting to diplomatic means in line with strategic plans and interests. The Treaty of Kadesh with Egypt, one of the oldest known peace treaties, is one of the earliest examples that underlines the complex diplomatic strategies used by the Hittites.

The Hittite Plague, which had a deep impact on the Hittite Empire in the 14th century BC, caused widespread deaths. The pandemic has exacerbated existing internal strife and succession crises, leading to power struggles within the royal family and resulting in periods of instability. The weakening of the empire by plague would have made it vulnerable to external threats and internal rebellions.

Suppiluliuma I and his successor kings resorted to rituals and religious ceremonies to appease the gods and seek divine intervention against the Hittite Plague. Correspondence and records from this period reveal the deep concerns of the Hittite rulers about the impact of the plague on their society and the continuity of their rule. Despite these difficulties, the Hittite Empire managed to preserve its political structure and influence. However, the long-term effects of the Hittite Plague were one of the factors that contributed to the decline of the power of the Hittites in the following centuries.

Trade Routes and the Spread of the Epidemic

The Hittite Empire existed at the juncture of many significant trade routes that linked the ancient Near East with the Mediterranean, Aegean, and even beyond. The routes allowed the easy flow of goods, ideas, and technologies from one point to the other, but on the flip side, it allowed for the quick and easy spread of any ailment, like the one characterizing the Hittite Plague.

Trade routes of that time included both overland and maritime paths. The overland routes passed through the rough relief of Anatolia, intertwining the cities of the Hittites with the cities of Mesopotamia, the Levant, and the Aegean. The maritime paths joined ports along the Mediterranean coast, facilitating the movement of goods in the Hittite Empire, Egypt, and other coastal civilizations.

The risk of disease transmission only increased with these well-frequented routes that saw the movement of people and goods across them. Merchants, soldiers, and travelers would likely carry infectious agents over vast distances. Perhaps these people carried the infectious agent from a site of local origin of the bacterium that causes tularemia without knowing it.

One can easily imagine how, from such a point source, the Hittite Plague was disseminated so quickly throughout the empire and spilled over to other regions and people. A popularly advanced argument supporting the Hittite Plague is based on historical evidence, which identifies that the plague was supposedly worsened by the fact that the empire was actively participating in long-distance trade and warfare at the time.

As the meeting of a combination of different peoples in busy trade centers and military camps, the favorable conditions created were such that infectious diseases would be transmitted, and so facilitated an alarming spread of the epidemic. Some historians and epidemiologists have variously suggested Hittite Plague as an ancient biological warfare technique.4 The Hittites’ high-level military prowess suggests that they would have indeed been capable of such a thing.

Historical records suggest that the Hittites or their enemies, sometime before 1200 BC, must have used tularemia as a biological weapon. They probably deliberately spread the disease to weaken opponents. For example, war prisoners or animals may have been brought into enemy lands to initiate local outbreaks that would undermine enemy military and civilian power.

Although there is little evidence to directly prove that the Hittite Plague was used as a biological weapon, it is clear that this strategy would provide many advantages against the opponent. Because the disease was spreading so quickly and the death rate was so high, it makes perfect sense that it was considered an excellent way to weaken the enemy forces without conflict, of course, if civil society and the ethics of war are ignored. However, it is very difficult to make a clear judgment on how this strategy was evaluated in terms of warfare ethics in the geopolitical context of the Late Bronze Age…

  1. Çoban, Hacı. “The Hittites Period (The Second Millennium BC) Plague Epidemic in Anatolia.” Journal of Current Research on Social Sciences 9.4 (2019): 233-244.[]
  2. Smith‐Guzmán, N. E., Rose, J. C., & Kuckens, K. (2016). Beyond the differential diagnosis: new approaches to the bioarchaeology of the Hittite plagueNew Directions in Biocultural Anthropology, 295-316.[]
  3. Feldman, K. A. (2003). TularemiaJournal of the American Veterinary Medical Association222(6), 725-730.[]
  4. Trevisanato, S. I. (2007). The ‘Hittite plague’, an epidemic of tularemia and the first record of biological warfareMedical hypotheses69(6), 1371-1374.[]