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Who Invented the Flush Toilet?
Humans in the First World, for the most part, are fortunate enough to be able to cleanly flush their waste down through flush toilets. However, centuries ago, our ancestors had a very different way of dealing with their waste. Who invented the modern flush toilet and how did our ancestors deal with their excretions?
Ancient toilets
A clue as to how people of the ancient world dealt with their waste is written in the Bible. Deuteronomy 23:12–14 writes:
“Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.”
The Hebrews who were nomads during this time dug a hole to get rid of their waste and it was most likely the first form of the toilet that humans came up with.
As ancient civilizations and cities developed, new ways to effectively deal with large amounts of waste were invented. Early sewer systems can be found in the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro in present-day Pakistan. The well-planned city had a citywide…
