- Reaction score
- 1,750
Going to the bathroom may not rank among the most pleasant activities of a day, but given some context, we should be quite appreciative.
For instance, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, relieved themselves sitting atop ceramic tubes situated high above deep pits where waste accumulated and sat. There was no plumbing.
The Greeks stepped up in 1700 BC and constructed the Palace of Knossos, creating an early sewage system, which incorporated large clay pans connected to a running water supply.
By 315 AD, the Romans—who were so fond of partying that they had a god of parties, Bacchus—had built a huge, 144-seat toilet sanctuary where they sat closely together and treated the activity as a social event. They met friends, discussed politics, and caught up with family affairs and local gossip, all while attending to nature. Their togas provided a degree of privacy, but not completely. There was no evidence men and women were segregated.
With no toilet paper, not to mention smart toilets, they shared communal sea sponges attached to sticks—tersorium, which literally means "a wiping thing"—to clean themselves. This was not very sanitary, and existing before knowledge of how disease spread, likely was a frequent source of infection and disease.
Happily, John Harrington, the godson of Queen Elizabeth I, invented a private flushing toilet containing a water tank and pipes to carry waste away. Two centuries later, Alexander Cummins designed the S-shaped pipe that ejected waste water while suppressing odors.
techxplore.com
For instance, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, relieved themselves sitting atop ceramic tubes situated high above deep pits where waste accumulated and sat. There was no plumbing.
The Greeks stepped up in 1700 BC and constructed the Palace of Knossos, creating an early sewage system, which incorporated large clay pans connected to a running water supply.
By 315 AD, the Romans—who were so fond of partying that they had a god of parties, Bacchus—had built a huge, 144-seat toilet sanctuary where they sat closely together and treated the activity as a social event. They met friends, discussed politics, and caught up with family affairs and local gossip, all while attending to nature. Their togas provided a degree of privacy, but not completely. There was no evidence men and women were segregated.
With no toilet paper, not to mention smart toilets, they shared communal sea sponges attached to sticks—tersorium, which literally means "a wiping thing"—to clean themselves. This was not very sanitary, and existing before knowledge of how disease spread, likely was a frequent source of infection and disease.
Happily, John Harrington, the godson of Queen Elizabeth I, invented a private flushing toilet containing a water tank and pipes to carry waste away. Two centuries later, Alexander Cummins designed the S-shaped pipe that ejected waste water while suppressing odors.
Nothing sticks: New silicon-infused 3D printed toilet bowl repels all
Going to the bathroom may not rank among the most pleasant activities of a day, but given some context, we should be quite appreciative.
