The Dirty Secret About Ancient Bathrooms

Daily Beast ^ | November 20, 2016 | Candida Moss

[C19fan]

When people think of Rome they think of the Coliseum, but this year the Coliseum has an ancient athletic rival: the Circus Maximus. After years of excavations and improvements, Rome’s charioteer stadium—the ancient equivalent of a NASCAR track—is finally open to the public. But however you feel about the races there’s plenty of interesting stuff to be seen here; the ancient world’s largest shopping mall, among them. But for my money one of the most interesting features is the well-preserved and very public ancient latrines, which operated with water siphoned from the nearby aqueduct. Bear with me. They’re a testament to Roman engineering and evidence that even though the Romans had a highly developed sense of decorum, they didn’t mind emptying their bowels en masse.

[RegulatorCountry]

My paternal grandmother finally got an indoor toilet in the late 60's after my grandfather passed away. He didn't want that inside the house, thought it was not healthy and unsanitary. So, they continued with an outhouse for as long as he lived. I can vaguely remember the chamber pots back when I was a very small boy. She had indoor plumbing, had had it since before the depression. But, putting the privvy inside just struck my grandfather as nasty, lol.

[JoeFromSidney]

The university in Turkey where I taught in the '90s still had only open holes in the floor in the men's rooms. I never did master them. I always went back to my apartment when the need arose.

[House Atreides]

“...open holes in the floor in the men’s room....”
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If you go to a mosque in the US, it’s the same. Or at least it is in the only mosque I’ve been to in the USA (part of a church visit).

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Cess pits or “midden heaps” to use an archaic term.

Korean farmers built their 'out houses' on the side slope of a hill to give clearance for a large "honey pot" that served as storage for waste until it was spread between the rows of their fields.

Regards,
GtG

[Ditter]

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