History
The recorded history of rabies goes back as far as 1930 B.C., when the first written mention of the disease showed up in the Laws of Eshnunna, a Mesopotamian collection of laws.
In the 8th century BC, Homer compares someone to a “raging dog” in the Iliad.
As the centuries wore on, rabies spread throughout the world as sea travel became more common. The history books of almost every region of the world mention the first outbreak of rabies in that area.
We’ve created a two-part timeline of the history of rabies starting in 1930 BC with the Laws of Eshnunna and ending in modern times.