Toilets of Faith

This page provides an overview of the Toilets of Faith.

That is, toilets and other plumbing at sites of religious practice or significance. This page is just an overview, click on any pictures or links to be taken to detailed pictures.

Deuteronomy 23 instructs the Jewish people to "have a place outside the camp and go out there, and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement."

The texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls specify defecation processes with greater precision. Defecation should be done between 1,000 and 2,000 cubits (from 457 to 914 meters) away from the camp in a north-westerly direction.

One sacred Hindu scripture instructs the reader to fire an arrow and then defecate only where that arrow falls or further away from the settlement.

The Vishnu Purana, from 300-100 BC, instructs its readers to defecate at least 150 feet from a source of water and to urinate at least 15 feet away from habitation.

The Vinaya Pitaka, a rulebook for Buddhist monks, goes into great detail in proper toilet use. As just a small sampling, proper Buddhist monks should defecate in the toilet in the order of arrival rather than that of seniority; should cough loudly when arriving at the toilet (and anyone already there should cough in response); should not chew tooth-cleaning wood while defecating, should not grunt while defecating, and should not wipe himself with a rough stick.

Ancient Delphic / Mother Goddess

Delphi, in Greece northwest of Athens, was a religious center for two millenia, from 1600 BC until 395 AD. By 1600 BC a shrine had been erected for Gaia, the Mother Goddess of west Asia, Then the myth held that the office of Oracle was held by the goddesses Themis and Phoebe. Later, the site was believed to be sacred to Poseidon, the deity of earthquakes known as "Earth-Shaker". During the Greek Dark Ages (11th-9th century BC), the temple was turned over to Apollo.

Here is the main temple in Delphi, the Temple of Apollo. The entrance to the temple was at the far or left end in this view.

The Sanctum Sanctorum, the Holiest of Holies, was at the opposite end, nearest the viewpoint in this picture. This was where the Oracle of Delphi sat on a tripod above a crevasse that emitted ethylene gas leading to the Oracle's strange mental states.

The Oracle would babble semi-coherently. Her ravings would then be "translated" by the temple priests into elegant hexameters.

The south side of the temple, the long downhill face, has a small passage leading back toward the area underneath the Oracle's seat! You can crawl back in there, I have pictures from inside that passage on the dedicated page about Delphi. But I had no visions.

Visitors did not just casually wander in to Delphi. Pilgrims would land at the Gulf of Corinth, several miles away, proceeding several miles up the valley toward the sacred site. They would purify themself on the way toward the sacred precincts.

The Castalian Spring and the sacred bathing area for cleansing purposes date back to Mother Goddess days, long before the Delphi of Classical Greek tradition.

The detailed page about Delphi provides many more pictures and background.

The Sacred Island of Delos

After the Greek Dark Ages and the emergence of the Ancient Greek culture, the island of Delos became dedicated to the Ancient Greek religion. These are the famous lion statues on the Terrace of the Lions near the Sanctuary of Apollo. They were dedicated to Apollo shortly before 600 BC by the people of Naxos.

Delos was a major cult center from 900 BC to 100 AD. It went through a number of cycles in which businesses would be established around the pilgrimage activity. At times it had the largest slave market in the region, and a number of large homes were built during these periods. But then the island would be "cleansed" of economic activity and re-dedicated purely to religion.

The Delian League started meeting here after its foundation in 478 BC, after the Persian wars.

Other pictures of plumbing from the time of the sacred use of Delos include the large latrine of the House of the Trident, seen here, the latrine of the Lake House, an underground sewer channel, buried beneath one of the main streets, and a system of aquaducts and cisterns used to collect the rare drinking water on the arid island.

See the dedicated Delos page for those further details.

Biblical Toilets, Old Testament

This pit toilet has been constructed from local loose stones, just below the summit of Mount Sinai, Egypt.

The mountain has been a major pilgrimage site at least since when the Byzantine Empress Helena (ruled 313-328 AD) established a monastery at the base of the mountain.

Biblical Toilets, New Testament

New Testament Biblical toilets in my collection include the famous public latrine at Ephesus, seen at left. A settlement was founded in that area in the 10th Century BC, but it was relocated to its final location in 292 BC. Ephesus became the principal city of Asia Minor, so this public latrine was quite large.

These similar marble public toilets are next to the main processional way from the harbor gate in Korinthos, Greece. These date from when the Apostle Paul was visiting Korinthos, trying to turn people away from the mountaintop debauchery at the Temple of Aphrodite, visible on the mountaintop in the distance.

These surprisingly scenic urinals are at Maryemana, on a mountain above Ephesus.

Other New Testament era toilet pictures on the dedicated page include more from both Ephesus and Korinthos, and pictures of the public latrines at Hierapolis in Asia Minor, now Pamukkale, Turkey.

Arthurian Abbey Toilets

In 1191 the Glastonbury Abbey in southwestern England was in financial trouble. The abbot directed the monks to dig in a particular spot in the cemetery, where they found a large oak casket holding a man and woman. Obviously this was Arthur and Guinevere! Well, there was a lead cross enscribed in Latin, reading something like Here lies Arturus, king of the Britons. So they were moved to a new tomb in what was then a fairly new cathedral. And so today you can stand in one spot and see two tombs of Arthur and Guinevere.

The abbey ruins include a large plumbing contraption labeled REREDORTER. This obscure term specifically means the latrine associated with a monastic establishment, which is usually located behind the dorter or sleeping quarters.

The Arthurian Toilets page has further details and more pictures of the plumbing ruins of Glastonbury.

Medieval Scottish Ecclesiastical Toilets

This is the reredorter at the Saint Andrew Cathedral Priory, a priory of Augustinian canons. Construction on the cathedral began in 1158.

Off the west coast of Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides, the Iona Abbey was built starting in 1203. However, the monastery itself dates back to the arrival in the year 563 of Colm Cille, later known as Saint Columba, with 12 companions. This is the reredorter of the abbey.

The dedicated Medieval Scottish Ecclesiastical page has further pictures and details on the reredorters and other plumbing features of both Saint Andrews and the Iona Abbey.

Greek Monastic Toilets

Meteora has been a monastic center in northern Greece since the 11th century. Byzantine monks built monasteries on eroded rock pinnacles.

At left you see the monastery of Moni Varlaam, built in 1541.

The cliff faces here are up to 373 meters tall. Access was intentionally difficult. The traditional method of access was to be lifted in a basket suspended by a rope. When asked when the ropes were replaced, the monks famously answered "When the Lord lets them break".

The toilets, however, are very modern. At right is one of the toilets for visitors.

Buddhist Toilets

This is one of the public toilets at the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, one of the few Buddhist temples left standing in Guangzhou in the southeastern People's Republic of China.

The dedicated Buddhist toilet page has more pictures and details about these toilets.

The Vatican

Don't get excited, this isn't the Papal Throne!

This is just a toilet in the Vatican Museum.

Rose George's The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters is a fascinating description of sanitation conditions around the world. "2.6 billion people don't have sanitation. [....] Four in ten people have no access to any latrine, toilet, bucket, or box. [....] Poor sanitation, bad hygiene, and unsafe water — usually unsafe because it has fecal particles in it — cause one in ten of the world's illnesses. [....] Diarrhea — nearly 90 percent of which is caused by fecally contaminated food or water — kills a child every fifteen seconds. The number of children who have died from diarrhea in the last decade [1998-2008] exceeds the total number of people killed by armed conflict since the Second World War.

In September 2009, Morna Gregory and Sian James published a book titled Toilets of the World. It's pretty much the same theme that you find here — photographs and commentary on other people's plumbing.

The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet, by Julie Horan, contends that civilization began with the toilet.

Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing, edited by Laura Noren and Harvey Molotch, has essays by anthropologists, sociologists, and architects on the importance of the toilet, especially for urban dwellers.

Latrinae Et Foricae: Toilets in the Roman World describes the toilets of the Roman Empire from Iberia to Syria, and from North Africa to Hadrian's Wall in Britannia.

Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers: A History of the Bathroom, explains the history of personal cleanliness and hygiene to children in grades 5-8.

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