Jerusalemwas home to the great kings of the Biblical era , yet novel research reveal that even the elite group of this ancient city were infest withparasitic worms . After examining sediment sampling from a sump beneath a 2,700 - year - oldstone toilet , archaeologists discovered numerous type of enteric parasite eggs , suggesting hygienics and sanitisation may not have been up to scratch in the holy city .
name their findings in theInternational Journal of Paleopathology , the authors explain that “ a lavatory was a symbol of wealth , a private installing that only the rich could have yield , ” and that user of this rudimentary lavatory were believably people of status . Located in a lavish complex at the situation of Armon Hanatziv in southern Jerusalem , the Biblical bog was appropriately surrounded by “ over-the-top architectural elements ” and provides a fascinating sixth sense into the intestinal troubles of the metropolis ’s privileged classes during the late Iron Age .
Using a easy microscope , the researchers identify ballock of roundworms , tapeworms , whipworms , and pinworms in the deposit samples , indicating that the flush residents of Jerusalem probably suffered from a range of diseases .
Roundworm and whipworm – both transmitted through feces – were the most prevalent in the cesspit . According to the researchers , these worms are probable to have become far-flung due to “ poor disposal of faecal cloth , contamination of intellectual nourishment and water supplies with fecal waste material , and the exercise of human feces as playing area fertilizer are predominant . ”
tapeworm , meanwhile , were the next most abundant sponger , their presence indicating that people were run through undercooked or dirty bitch or pork . Though less dominant than the other parasites , pinworm was also detected and is potential to have resulted in “ acute anal itch ” within moneyed households .
remark on these over-the-top findings , study source Dr. Dafna Langgut explain in astatementthat “ these are durable eggs , and under the special conditions provided by the cesspit , they survived for about 2,700 years . ”
“ Intestinal worms are parasites that make symptoms like abdominal botheration , nausea , diarrhea , and itching . Some of them are specially dangerous for tyke and can precede to malnutrition , developmental time lag , skittish system damage , and , in extreme eccentric , even death . ”
Due to a want of modern practice of medicine , it ’s improbable that those who became infested with these sponger would have had the means to wipe out them , mean that many hoi polloi in ancient Jerusalem probably carried thesewormsfor life . As this research reveals , even those lucky enough to have their own individual crapper were not capable to escape this rather disgusting fate .
