Summary: Ancient toilets discovered in Jerusalem contain evidence of dysentery outbreaks in the Old Testament era and remind us of the wisdom found in the Bible.
And they demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day. – 2 Kings 10:27 (ESV)
Parasites of the Royal Thrones
A very different kind of royal throne discovered in Jerusalem has revealed groundbreaking results pertaining to plague-spreading parasites. Two exceptionally rare toilets, dating back to the biblical era, show evidence of the earliest known case of Giardia duodenalis, a diarrhea-causing parasite.
Fecal samples analyzed in this study were obtained from sediment found beneath two private toilets that were unearthed in wealthy building complexes located south of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The remarkable study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Parasitology in May 2023, sheds new light on the city’s ancient sanitation practices and the prevalence of dysentery in the Old Testament era. It also prompts us to recount the remarkable commands regarding sanitation found in the Old Testament.
Researchers’ work suggests the toilets were being used some 2,700 years ago, towards the end of the Judean Kings, during the 7th and 6th centuries BC. “The fact that these parasites were present in sediment from two Iron Age Jerusalem cesspits suggests that dysentery was endemic in the Kingdom of Judah,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Piers Mitchell from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology.
Dysentery is an infectious intestinal disease caused by parasites and bacteria that can lead to diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever and dehydration. Oftentimes it can be fatal especially for young children.
Bio-Molecular Study Technique
The ancient toilets were originally discovered during 2019 excavations and had already been microscopically examined, revealing the eggs of a host of parasites including whipworm, roundworm, tapeworm and pinworm, evidence that Iron Age sanitation practices were lacking.
However, recently the team used a bio-molecular technique called “ELISA” (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) to analyze the decomposed feces. This technique utilizes antibodies to detect proteins produced by specific single-cell microorganisms like Giardia. The fragile cysts produced by protozoa (single cell microorganisms) are more difficult to spot in ancient samples compared to other more hardy parasite eggs.
Remarkably, the findings represent “the earliest known evidence for G. duodenalis so far identified in a past population anywhere in the world,” the researchers said. This suggests the “long-term presence of this parasite in the populations of the Near East.”
“Much more research applying ELISAs to early societies is needed for us to fully understand from which regions of the world each organism originated, and when they spread to new areas due to migrations, trade and military invasions,” the researchers concluded.
Status Symbol
During this period, toilets with cesspits were uncommon and owning one was a status symbol reserved only for the very powerful and privileged. “A private toilet cubicle was very rare in antiquity, and only a few were found to date, most of them in the City of David. In fact, only the rich could afford toilets,” said Yaakov Billig, Director of the Excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in a statement sent to IFLScience.
“A thousand years later, the Mishnah and the Talmud raised various criteria that defined a rich person, and Rabbi Yossi suggested that to be rich is ‘to have the toilet next to his table,’” continued Billig.
Both of the rare latrines are identical in design, consisting of a carved limestone seat with a shallow curved surface for more comfortable sitting. Each has a large central hole with a smaller adjacent hole at the front.
One of the stone toilets was found in a lavishly decorated estate called Armon HaNaztiv, located one mile south of the city near the Beit Shatz tourist complex and thought to be from the mid-7th century, the days of King Manasseh, a client king for the Assyrians who ruled for 50 years.
Here archeologists also found stone capitals that once topped columns, along with smaller architectural columns that supported windows. Evidence has also been discovered of a garden surrounding the toilet that featured plants and fruit trees.
The other latrine was discovered in an elite residence called the House of Ahiel, located just outside the city walls of Jerusalem and estimated to be from around the 8th century BC. It was destroyed, along with the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, when Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II sacked Jerusalem after its citizens stopped paying him tribute.
The toilets were in their original locations giving researchers the unique opportunity to identify microorganisms in the ancient feces underneath them.
The Spreading of Dysentery
Even though the elites may have been fortunate to have a comfortable place to relieve themselves, early latrines were not flushable. “Towns were not planned and built with a sewerage network, flushing toilets had yet to be invented and the population had no understanding of the existence of microorganisms and how they can be spread,” the researchers wrote.
“Dysentery is spread by feces contaminating drinking water or food, and we suspected it could have been a big problem in early cities of the ancient Near East due to overcrowding, heat and flies, and limited water available in the summer,” added Mitchell. At that time in history it is estimated that Jerusalem housed between 8,000 to 25,000 people.
The detection of this parasite helps researchers gain new perspectives on ancient Mesopotamian medical texts, some of which reference a condition called sà si-sá that likely refers to loose stools. One such text warns that “if a person eats bread and drinks beer and subsequently his stomach is colicky, he has cramps and has a flowing of the bowels, setu has gotten him.”
“These early written sources do not provide causes of diarrhea, but they encourage us to apply modern techniques to investigate which pathogens might have been involved,” said Mitchell. “We know for sure that Giardia was one of those infections responsible.”
The Remarkable Biblical Sanitation Laws
Although primitive standards of hygiene were prevalent in the ancient world, the Torah contains dozens and dozens of commands related to sanitation, health, and sexual mores. Many of the commands having to do with ritual impurity also had the double function of promoting a community with good physical health. Even as the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, they were commanded to wash their hands and ritually bathe in running water when presenting symptoms of a health condition or coming in contact with that which was considered unclean (Lev. 15:4-27).
There were strict rules regarding burials and directions about quarantine when infected individuals were isolated outside of camp after touching a dead body or when displaying certain conditions or diseases (Lev. 5:2-3, Num. 19:16). Those who had recovered from sickness were to wash themselves and their garments before being considered “clean” (Lev. 14:8-9).
If drinking water had the carcass of an animal discovered in it, use of the water was forbidden as “unclean” unless it was in flowing fresh water, like a spring. Food and water in vessels that contacted dead animals or infected people was also unclean (Lev. 11:34-36, 15:12).
There are even Biblical Laws on how to handle human excrement. It must be buried away from the camp:
“You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement.” – Deuteronomy 23:12-13 (ESV)
The next verse (Deut. 23:14) says this command was to keep the camp holy, but it would have also kept the camp healthy.
Some archaeologists have even suspected that the development of the distinctive Israelite four-room house may have come about in relation to the Bible’s health laws. The layout of this style of house with a central room (or courtyard) that had access to all the other rooms meant that people did not have to walk through other rooms to reach their destination. This would have allowed members of the home experiencing temporary ritual impurity to isolate in one room or move through the house, perhaps to go out to do chores, without coming in contact with others and thus contaminating them.
It seems that Moses wrote health laws that understood principles and processes of disease-prevention (caused by poor sanitation and other reasons) that would not be discovered until the last century or two, with the advent of microscopes and modern medicine. This is seen by many as one more example of evidence that the Bible had a divine source.
Conclusion
“It is fascinating to see how something that is obvious to us today, such as toilets, was a luxury item during the reign of the kings of Judah. Jerusalem never ceases to amaze,” explained Eli Eskosido, IAA Director. “I am convinced that the glorious past of the city will continue to be revealed to us in the future.”
The discovery of Giardia duodenalis in ancient Jerusalem not only adds to our understanding of the health challenges faced by early civilizations but also highlights the importance of sanitation and hygiene throughout history.
It’s a unique and very human glimpse into the daily lives of our ancestors, a reminder of the wisdom found in the Scriptures, as well as a testament to the progress in scientific techniques that allow us to uncover more hidden stories from the past.
Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: Ancient toilet found in Jerusalem. (credit: Yoli Schwartz, IAA)
