Archaeologists find 2,700-year-old toilet in luxurious palace in Jerusalem

Chris

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Archaeologists find 2,700-year-old toilet in luxurious palace in Jerusalem
The extraordinary find sheds light on life under the kings of Judah: "Only the rich could afford toilets."
By ROSSELLA TERCATIN
OCTOBER 5, 2021

Who lived in the superb palace and enjoyed its spectacular view over the Temple Mount of Jerusalem some 2,700 years ago? Perhaps it was one of the biblical kings of Judah, possibly Hezekiah or Josiah, or other members of the royal families. Or maybe it was just a wealthy individual, a member of the elite. Whoever the residents of the beautiful structures uncovered by the archaeologists in the neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv were, they enjoyed a unique privilege: a luxurious private toilet. The facility was recently discovered in an excavation by the Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David, which opened prior to the construction of a new tourist complex on the promenade, the IAA revealed on Tuesday.

“At the time, a private toilet in a house was extremely rare,” said archaeologist Yaakov Billig, director of the excavation on behalf of the IAA. “Most people were just forced to find someplace private to relieve themselves. Around 1,000 years later, a group of rabbis in the Talmud discuss who is to be considered rich. Different rabbis suggest different answers, and one of them, Rabbi Yossi, says, ‘One who has a toilet next to his table’.”

more............ https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/a...oilet-in-luxurious-palace-in-jerusalem-681097
 

heisable2

Well-Known Member
Archaeologists find 2,700-year-old toilet in luxurious palace in Jerusalem
The extraordinary find sheds light on life under the kings of Judah: "Only the rich could afford toilets."
By ROSSELLA TERCATIN
OCTOBER 5, 2021

Who lived in the superb palace and enjoyed its spectacular view over the Temple Mount of Jerusalem some 2,700 years ago? Perhaps it was one of the biblical kings of Judah, possibly Hezekiah or Josiah, or other members of the royal families. Or maybe it was just a wealthy individual, a member of the elite. Whoever the residents of the beautiful structures uncovered by the archaeologists in the neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv were, they enjoyed a unique privilege: a luxurious private toilet. The facility was recently discovered in an excavation by the Antiquities Authority (IAA) and the City of David, which opened prior to the construction of a new tourist complex on the promenade, the IAA revealed on Tuesday.

“At the time, a private toilet in a house was extremely rare,” said archaeologist Yaakov Billig, director of the excavation on behalf of the IAA. “Most people were just forced to find someplace private to relieve themselves. Around 1,000 years later, a group of rabbis in the Talmud discuss who is to be considered rich. Different rabbis suggest different answers, and one of them, Rabbi Yossi, says, ‘One who has a toilet next to his table’.”

more............ https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/a...oilet-in-luxurious-palace-in-jerusalem-681097
OMG..... Now that is a good word picture. The question is did this toilet have a channel where the material was sent underground? Or maybe there was a chamber pot underneath the toilet?

Either way, there must have been some good engineers back then to have made a toilet ahead of modern times.
 

heisable2

Well-Known Member
I read the article in the link. It showed a picture of what this toilet look like. It reminded me of a tall concrete block that had a hole in it. Right behind it it looked like it could have been the toilet seat but I wasn't sure. The archaeologists found all sorts of stuff inside the hole which they are going to analyze.

I didn't say how deep it was. It'd be interesting to find out if they took care of the hole as much as the people using out houses. They either put a lot of lye in the hole and when the hole became full they just moved the outhouse. The article didn't say if there was more than one toilet. I just found the whole article very interesting because this is the type of subject that you generally don't talk about in science. If I had known this subject was going to be written about I would have brought it up to my students when I was teaching science. Anyway still amazing at what the human mind can create.
 

heisable2

Well-Known Member
The archaeologists found all sorts of stuff inside the hole which they are going to analyze.

I can save them the time and trouble if they want to call me.
Did you read the article? Haha to your comment but this is what it said about the contents.

"At the time, such pits were also used as garbage cans,” Billig noted. “The vast majority of the vessels found were bowls. It could be that they were some kind of disposable dishes, but also that they were used as containers for aromatic oil and were put in the toilet to improve the smell. We hope that some further analysis on the residues will provide answers.”

In addition, the bones will offer information on dietary habits, while the examination of the soil could shed light on parasites and diseases among ancient Judeans."
 

katt

Well-Known Member
The Aztecs had what they called, Sanitary Closets, they were everywhere, when Cortez and his crew saw them, they were fascinated by them, you went in, did your business, pulled a string, it went down and either a slave or a very poor peasant came by periodically, collected said substance, took it to the field workers, who then used it for fertalization of said fields..not a bad system if I do say so myself..
 

MapleLeaf

Well-Known Member
The Aztecs had what they called, Sanitary Closets, they were everywhere, when Cortez and his crew saw them, they were fascinated by them, you went in, did your business, pulled a string, it went down and either a slave or a very poor peasant came by periodically, collected said substance, took it to the field workers, who then used it for fertalization of said fields..not a bad system if I do say so myself..
You weren't the one collecting "said substance". LOL Is human excrement as fertilizer the best choice? I don't know why the source of the um, fertilizer, really matters but I thought I had read that North Koreans being forced to use that for their gardens was considered inhumane and the source of parasites.

The toilet habits of history are not something we often consider. It seems like crossing a line and invading the people's privacy, I don't know. We're already rifling through their bones...which I don't really have qualms with. But picturing historical figures sitting on the can seems a bit too far. :yikes It is interesting though. I have sadly heard issues going on today where poor,rural girls in nations like India have to relieve themselves in fields and are then targets of rape gangs. That could have been a real source of concern back in the day. Maybe even the source of the old Law in the Old Testament about finding a girl alone in a field and raping her. I can't imagine girls were otherwise completely on their own.
 

katt

Well-Known Member
You weren't the one collecting "said substance". LOL Is human excrement as fertilizer the best choice? I don't know why the source of the um, fertilizer, really matters but I thought I had read that North Koreans being forced to use that for their gardens was considered inhumane and the source of parasites.

The toilet habits of history are not something we often consider. It seems like crossing a line and invading the people's privacy, I don't know. We're already rifling through their bones...which I don't really have qualms with. But picturing historical figures sitting on the can seems a bit too far. :yikes It is interesting though. I have sadly heard issues going on today where poor,rural girls in nations like India have to relieve themselves in fields and are then targets of rape gangs. That could have been a real source of concern back in the day. Maybe even the source of the old Law in the Old Testament about finding a girl alone in a field and raping her. I can't imagine girls were otherwise completely on their own.
Parasites? Probably, but, we are mammals and farmers have used manure of all types for fertilizer for centuries, are there parasites in that?
 

heisable2

Well-Known Member
No matter the type of system a culture used to rid themselves of poop, it would have to do until a better system came along.

The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in Dubai does not have a sewer system. Once a day all of the waste is collected and trucked out of the city. And who collects this waste? An unfortunate person.
 

Tall Timbers

Imperfect but forgiven
The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in Dubai does not have a sewer system. Once a day all of the waste is collected and trucked out of the city. And who collects this waste?

I just did some reading on that building. It was interesting. 15000 pounds of sewage each and every day has to be trucked from that building to a sewage treatment facility. Add all the other buildings doing the same thing and it was said that it isn't uncommon for a sewage truck to wait in a queue for over 24 hours before it gets its turn to dump its load. Being one of those truck drivers must be a hard life.
 

caligal

Well-Known Member
When I lived in Japan in the late 50s and early 60s the population had binjos in the back of their homes which were indoor outhouses. At least once a week a man with 2 buckets on a pole across his shoulders would make his rounds and collect the poop and they would sell it to fertilizing companies who spread on their rice fields and veggie fields. Everyone called them honeybucket men.
 

ChildofLight

Well-Known Member
You weren't the one collecting "said substance". LOL Is human excrement as fertilizer the best choice? I don't know why the source of the um, fertilizer, really matters but I thought I had read that North Koreans being forced to use that for their gardens was considered inhumane and the source of parasites.

The toilet habits of history are not something we often consider. It seems like crossing a line and invading the people's privacy, I don't know. We're already rifling through their bones...which I don't really have qualms with. But picturing historical figures sitting on the can seems a bit too far. :yikes It is interesting though. I have sadly heard issues going on today where poor,rural girls in nations like India have to relieve themselves in fields and are then targets of rape gangs. That could have been a real source of concern back in the day. Maybe even the source of the old Law in the Old Testament about finding a girl alone in a field and raping her. I can't imagine girls were otherwise completely on their own.
Parasites? Probably, but, we are mammals and farmers have used manure of all types for fertilizer for centuries, are there parasites in that?
It’s that human excrement consist of a high levels of metals, which is why it should not be used on food crops.
 
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