Time and time again, the world before the 1900s was hit heavily by diseases which affected the developed world much harder. Its effect on human civilization has been huge.
Then outbreaks of diseases such as the collapse of the Assyrian army under Sennacherib in front of Jerusalem, that saved the Jewish people, a disease largely defeated Athens, in the Peloponnesian War, 6th-century Plague of Justinian was largely responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam, American Indians were devastated and when the whites came they found the land empty, Black Death which changed much of Europe, etc.
Clearly what the ancients needed were Public health inspectors.
Now if you read the OT Bible, it is quite clear that many of the laws are related to hygiene, so the knowledge could be there.
Now let us assume that some ancient Louis Pasteur existed and he codified some rules of hygiene. The sort of stuff that we learn in primary school and the ancients implemented these rules and created public health inspectors. It is going to stop a lot. Just washing hands before eating and midwives before helping women give birth. Then we could reduce the rat population, in villages and cities. Removing sewage. etc.
You could rewrite most of history.
Then outbreaks of diseases such as the collapse of the Assyrian army under Sennacherib in front of Jerusalem, that saved the Jewish people, a disease largely defeated Athens, in the Peloponnesian War, 6th-century Plague of Justinian was largely responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam, American Indians were devastated and when the whites came they found the land empty, Black Death which changed much of Europe, etc.
Clearly what the ancients needed were Public health inspectors.
Now if you read the OT Bible, it is quite clear that many of the laws are related to hygiene, so the knowledge could be there.
Now let us assume that some ancient Louis Pasteur existed and he codified some rules of hygiene. The sort of stuff that we learn in primary school and the ancients implemented these rules and created public health inspectors. It is going to stop a lot. Just washing hands before eating and midwives before helping women give birth. Then we could reduce the rat population, in villages and cities. Removing sewage. etc.
You could rewrite most of history.