In 2021, Israeli archaeologists unearthed an amazing artifact: A toilet
The ancient toilet was found in the cultural center of Jerusalem (Israel), in a ruined palace overlooking the old city.
According to the speculation of scientist Yaakov Billig, this toilet was used at the end of the period of the Jewish kings (7th century BC) about 2,700 years ago.
You may ask, why is there a stone pillar with a hole in it that is a toilet? Because archaeologists also discovered a septic tank dug from the limestone foundation under the basin.
However, due to insufficient funding, the excavation work could not be completed at that time, so only a part was excavated. Although the toilet and septic tank were not completely excavated, Billig estimates the area of the toilet to be about 1.5 x 2 meters, roughly the same size as a modern toilet.
Archaeologists are examining the toilet
Billig’s team also found a toilet seat in situ, but the seat was not the plastic or acrylic commonly used in modern times, but the same material as the toilet: limestone. “It’s not unreasonable to have such elaborate carvings like this and having to sit up to go to the bathroom ,” said Yaakov Billig.
As mentioned before, the toilet was found in the palace, a “royal building” dating back to the Iron Age. The palace’s pillars are engraved with symbols of Jewish kings.
It can be imagined that this is not a toilet that ordinary people can use, but a high-end item loved by aristocrats.
Unearthing ancient personal toilets is extremely rare in Israel. At that time, toilets were the privilege of the rich.
Some of the elaborate pillars are carved with symbolic meanings of the Jewish monarchy
However, the archaeological team also had another rather strange discovery. They found 30-40 bowls in the bathroom.
Eating in the toilet, smelling the unpleasant smell, can you swallow it? Therefore, scientists speculate that these bowls had another special use, which was to hold aromatic substances, such as scented oils or scented wax.
The research on ancient toilets does not stop there. Scientists studied the septic tank below to learn more about the eating and digestive problems of the late Iron Age aristocracy.
In the septic tank, scientists collected 15 sediment samples and found eggs of roundworms, tapeworms, whipworms and pinworms in the sediment samples under a microscope. This shows that wealthy people in ancient Jerusalem could suffer from a series of diseases.
Roundworms and roundworms, two parasites transmitted primarily through the fecal-oral route, also mean that they improperly dispose of their feces, contaminate food and water supplies, and fertilize them. Vegetables and vegetables are full of parasites…
As for tapeworms, people at that time ate undercooked or unclean meat. Research results show that even ancient intellectuals did not have a good solution to the problem of food hygiene.
At that time, health issues were not given much attention. Fecal-oral transmission was the main cause of intestinal parasitic diseases, and since then parasitic diseases were very common.
In the absence of modern medicine, people infected with parasites were difficult to cure, meaning many people in ancient Jerusalem may have carried worms in their bodies all their lives.
It can be seen that even the rich and powerful with their own toilets could not escape the fate of being infected with parasites in ancient times.
