Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites
The Armon Hanatziv and Ahiel toilets, whose cesspit sediment holds the oldest known Giardia
Found 2019 — Toilet found by Yaakov Billig (Israel Antiquities Authority) at Armon Hanatziv; parasite studies by Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University, 2021) and Piers Mitchell (University of Cambridge, 2023) with Yuval Gadot
Where Armon Hanatziv promenade and Area G, City of David, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) (Israel)
Dates from Mid-7th to early 6th century BCE · Iron Age IIC · Manasseh to Tzidkiyahu (Zedekiah)
Now at Toilet seats and sediment with the Israel Antiquities Authority; analyses at Tel Aviv University and the University of Cambridge
How Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites was found
A carved limestone toilet seat over a cesspit was found in the Armon Hanatziv estate in 2019. Sediment from beneath it, and from the 1970s House of Ahiel toilet, was examined under the microscope (2021) and then tested with antibodies for protozoa (2023).
What it is
Two limestone toilet seats, each with a central hole and a smaller front opening, set over deep cesspits. The 2021 study found eggs of whipworm, roundworm, tapeworm and pinworm; the 2023 study detected antigens of Giardia duodenalis, a diarrhea-causing microbe, the earliest evidence of it anywhere in the world.
Why it matters for the Bible
The elite of Judah, even in a garden estate, lived with chronic stomach disease from poor sanitation, which gives a physical background to the Bible's laws about latrines outside the camp and its curses of sickness and dysentery. These are the only toilets known from the kingdom of Judah with their contents preserved, so they speak for everyone who lived in Yerushalayim in the last decades before the exile.
The Hebrew word: mah-chah-rah-AH
מַחֲרָאָה
מַחֲרָאָה is pronounced mah-chah-rah-AH and means latrine, privy (2 Kings 10:27) (Strong's H4280).
Places
- Jerusalem — יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (ye-roo-shah-LAH-yim) — foundation of peace
Events
Daily life and health in late-monarchy Jerusalem
Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites in Scripture
Deuteronomy 23:12-13 The rule to relieve oneself outside the camp and cover it; the cesspits show what happened when waste stayed inside the city.
2 Kings 10:27 Jehu turns Baal's temple into a latrine, the same Hebrew word used for such installations.
2 Chronicles 21:19 Jehoram dies of a disease of the bowels; the parasite study shows such intestinal illness was common in Judah.
Questions people ask
What is Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites?
Two limestone toilet seats, each with a central hole and a smaller front opening, set over deep cesspits. The 2021 study found eggs of whipworm, roundworm, tapeworm and pinworm; the 2023 study detected antigens of Giardia duodenalis, a diarrhea-causing microbe, the earliest evidence of it anywhere in the world.
When was Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites discovered?
It was found in 2019 by Toilet found by Yaakov Billig (Israel Antiquities Authority) at Armon Hanatziv; parasite studies by Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University, 2021) and Piers Mitchell (University of Cambridge, 2023) with Yuval Gadot, at Armon Hanatziv promenade and Area G, City of David, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).
Where is Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites today?
Toilet seats and sediment with the Israel Antiquities Authority; analyses at Tel Aviv University and the University of Cambridge.
Which Bible verses does Jerusalem's Iron Age Toilets and Their Parasites relate to?
Deuteronomy 23:12-13, 2 Kings 10:27, 2 Chronicles 21:19.
Related discoveries
- אַרְמוֹןArmon Hanatziv Royal EstateA 7th-century BCE palace outside the walls with miniature proto-Aeolic capitals and carved window balustrades
- בַּיִתThe House of AhielA four-room Judean house in Area G with its owner's name on a potsherd and a stone toilet
Sources
- Mitchell, Wang, Gadot et al., 'Giardia duodenalis and dysentery in Iron Age Jerusalem (7th–6th century BCE)', Parasitology (2023)
- Langgut, 'Mid-7th century BC human parasite remains from Jerusalem', International Journal of Paleopathology (2021)
- ScienceDaily, 'Early toilets reveal dysentery in Old Testament Jerusalem' (May 2023)
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