A 2,700-year-old private toilet from the days of the First Temple was recently uncovered during an archaeological dig in Jerusalem, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The limestone bathroom cubicle was discovered during the construction of a new tourism facility in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv district.
“A private bathroom cubicle was exceedingly unusual in antiquity, and only a handful have been uncovered to date, most of them in the City of David,” said Yaakov Billig, excavation director for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“Toilets were only available to the wealthy.” A thousand years later, the Mishnah and Talmud established different criteria for defining a wealthy person, and Rabbi Yossi proposed that being wealthy means “having the toilet next to his table.”
According to the IAA, the bathroom included a carved stone toilet with a hole in the center, which was situated above a deep septic tank.
The discovery comes from the First Temple Period and is thought to be from an “old royal estate” that existed in the 7th century BCE, according to the Antiquities Authority.
“It’s remarkable to see how something so basic to us today, like toilets, was a luxury item during the era of the Judah kings,” said Eli Eskosido, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority. ” Jerusalem never fails to astound me. The amazing vista can only be imagined.”
Several ceramic shards and animal bones were discovered in the septic tank beneath the toilet, which might possibly “inform us about the lifestyles and diets of the First Temple inhabitants, as well as old illnesses,” according to the IAA.
Archaeologists excavating at the excavation site have discovered stone capitals that originally stood atop columns, as well as miniature architectural columns that once acted as window railings.
Evidence of a garden with fruit trees and other flora that formerly stood alongside the bathroom cubicle, symbolizing the old “beautiful palace,” has also been unearthed.
