14th July 2006 I have been holding this post on ancient toilets
for quite a while , so I thought I go ahead and post it! (For
what it’s worth, as the son of a plumber and a third year
apprentice [I never finished], I come by my interest in ancient
toilets honestly.) This is the third in a series of semi-serious
posts on “Going Potty in the Ancient World.” My other posts
include: All posts in this series may be viewed here. The
pictures of the ancient potty below were sent to my by Bill
Fritsche. Bill was volunteering at the Sussita/Hippos
Excavations last summer and uncovered what sure looks like an
ancient toilet. See for yourself and let me know what you think
(the individual in the second picture is Bill): The church is
tentatively thought to be a 6th century CE Byzantine structure
and we know that the city was destroyed by earthquake in 748 or
749 CE; that would mean the potty would probably date to around
the same period. The dig is sponsored by the Zinman Institute of
Archaeology of the University of Ha