A History of Disease in Ancient Times [electronic resource] : More Lethal than War / by Philip Norrie.

Foreword by Professor Craig Molgaard, BA, MPH, PHD -- Introduction. -- Chapter 1: Common Diseases in Ancient Times. -- Chapter 2: How Disease Affected the History of the Egyptian Empire. -- Chapter 3: How Disease Affected the History of the Hittite Empire. -- Chapter 4: How Disease Affected the End of the Bronze Age. -- Chapter 5: How Disease Affected the History of Ancient Carthage. -- Conclusion -- Plague Prayers of King Mursili II..-About the Author. .

This book shows how bubonic plague and smallpox helped end the Hittite Empire, the Bronze Age in the Near East and later the Carthaginian Empire. The book will examine all the possible infectious diseases present in ancient times and show that life was a daily struggle for survival either avoiding or fighting against these infectious disease epidemics. The book will argue that infectious disease epidemics are a critical link in the chain of causation for the demise of most civilizations in the ancient world and that ancient historians should no longer ignore them, as is currently the case.