Dr Trevisanato said he had spent years searching through ancient accounts of Hittite conquests. In 1325 BC, when the Hittites sacked the Phoenician city of Symra, on the borders of Lebanon and Syria, a mysterious plague was recorded.
"This is the first time we hear of the so-called Hittite Plague," he said. "It appears in several documents. In my view, it is no accident that it coincides with the first documented description of tularemia."
The plague was described in letters to the Egyptian king Akhenaten. The letter reports that donkeys, which also carry the disease, were banned from the city, in an attempt to stop the illness.
The method of attack was simple. The Hittites would leave the sheep outside the targeted city. Locals would bring them in and either breed them or eat them, spreading the disease.
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