What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
One of the most famous bathing episodes in ancient Greek history was the occasion when the mathematician and physicist Archimedes plunged into his hot tub to see the level of the water rise. "Eureka!" he cried, having determined that the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or partially, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces, the so-called Archimedes' principle.
The origins of cleanliness can be traced back to approximately 2800 BCE, when archaeologists discovered that the ancient Babylonians started making a crude version of soap around this time. They found this out after deciphering inscriptions on a cylinder that included the wording "fat boiled with ash"—ingredients used by later civilizations for manufacturing soap.
Further evidence of the early use of soap is contained in the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal knowledge dating to c. 1550 BCE. However, it appears soap was being used as a medicine rather than as a cleansing agent.
But it was the ancient Egyptians who first adopted what we'd call today good hygiene habits, such as washing and laundry.
In ancient Egypt, most people bathed daily in the river or out of a water basin at home. Wealthier households were equipped with bathrooms and could afford to employ servants who would pour jugs of water over their master, shower-style. The Egyptians were house-proud too, using early forms of detergent such as alkaline soaps, alcohol, and other concoctions to scrub floors and wash clothes.
Next, they'd anoint themselves with olive oil, thought to have a moistening effect.
Suitably oiled, the final stage of the ritual entailed scraping off the substance using a bronze instrument known as a strigil. Pictured is a set complete with a pithari, or oil jar.
While it was the ancient Greeks who first built public baths, it was the Romans who made the bathhouse the focus of their social lives.
Ceramic was used much later, during the 12th and 13th centuries, to fashion bath scrapers, popular in the Middle East. Essentially an exfoliating implement, their decoration included a variety of animal, floral, and geometric patterns, suggesting customers could select their own designs.
Wealthy Romans enjoyed the luxury of running water in their palaces and villas, fed from lead pipes connected to aqueducts. Sophisticated plumbing systems also fueled fullonicas, or laundries (pictured).
The xylospongium beats hands down the implements previously used for this purpose, the "pessoi." Toilet hygiene in the classical era didn't get much more basic than this. Oval or circular fragments of ceramic known as pessoi (meaning pebbles) were used for, well you get the picture. Gross, but effective.
But it was the xylospongium, or tersorium, that proved the most essential accessory. The xylospongium, sometimes called a "sponge on a stick," was just that—a utensil with a sponge attached to clean the rear end after defecation. After use it was discarded and replaced by a new one. Simple, but ingenious.
China had developed a crude version of soap as early as 1300 CE. But it was their use of paper for cleansing from the 6th century onwards that placed the Chinese in the hotseat of personal hygiene. By the early 14th century, the Chinese were manufacturing toilet paper at the rate of 10 million packages of 1,000 to 10,000 sheets annually.
The Egyptians were the first to invent deodorant. They did this by mixing various spices, such as citrus and cinnamon, with water. This spawned a flourishing industry, the manufacture of decorative perfume bottles.
In Japan, bathing in temples and/or monasteries had a long history. Eventually, however, the Japanese came up with the idea of the sentō, a type of communal bathhouse. Even today, many Japanese place great importance in going to public baths.
During this period, Muslims and Jews had a much better record of general cleanliness than Christians. In fact, in Europe, the idea of anything resembling a Roman public bath would not be matched for a millennium.
The source for the word "hygiene" comes from Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness, and hygiene. Hygieia is related to the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius.
And the real inheritors of the Roman baths were the Arabs and then the Turks, who established the hammam, a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world.
The ancient Greeks are credited with inventing the hot tub. In fact, the earliest known bath was discovered at the Palace of Knossos on Crete. Known as the Queen's Bath (pictured), it dates back to around 1500 BCE.
In early Islamic history, women did not normally patronize hammams. And during Ottoman times, women were prohibited from all social activities, including even gathering at coffeehouses. But eventually females were admitted, albeit strictly segregated and at different hours. Pictured is a lady in Turkish costume with her servant at the hammam.
Washing was a daily ritual, even for slaves. And like the Greeks, the Romans used a combination of clay, sand, and pumice to scrub themselves clean, with a generous coating of olive oil to follow.
And another addition to the pantheon of personal hygiene complements of the French is the small, grown-up version of the chamber pot known as the bidet. These seats of convenience first appeared in the late 17th century and have never really gone out of fashion.
Sources: (History) (Discover Magazine) (European Cleaning Journal) (Perini Journal) (JSTOR Daily)
In the Middle Ages, keeping clean just wasn't considered necessary. Bizarrely, it was actually considered bad for your health by Christians to wash off dirt and grime; apparently the stink was good!
This notion partly came from the Church, which was trying to distance itself from the Romans who were always bathing. But people like John Wesley, the Methodist leader, hardly encouraged the idea of personal hygiene when his maxim that "cleanliness is, indeed, next to Godliness" didn't extend to rinsing grime from the body. He was just referring to clean clothes.
In the 16th century, it became de rigueur to press and rub the skin with a compound of roses to cure the goat-like stench of armpits. Two hundred years later, perfumes made in France became cultural icons under the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
History doesn't record who exactly invented the miswak, the world's first toothbrush. Fashioned out of a twig from the Salvadora persica (arak) tree, the miswak was certainly being used by the Babylonians, and the Romans and Egyptians too included this handy item on their bathroom shelves. The miswak today is predominant in Muslim-inhabited areas.
The ancient Greeks took their ablutions seriously. In fact, they turned a good rubdown into a fine art, using blocks of clay, sand, pumice, and ashes to clean their bodies in a well-choregraphed hygiene ritual.
Other devices used by the Romans for personal hygiene included nail cleaners, tweezers, and ear and nose scoops.
Earlier, the Black Death, which ravaged Europe from 1346 to 1353, discouraged many from washing in the belief that you would catch the disease more easily if your pores were opened from bathing.
Eventually, bathing became more frequent and even fashionable as the Renaissance kicked in. Suddenly it was cool to be clean!
And the Romans also used strigils to finish cleaning themselves. The metal implement proved very popular with athletes, who'd smooth their skin like marble in an attempt to become more aerodynamic.
Maintaining good personal hygiene is vital. It keeps us clean and healthy, and supports a strong immune system. Indeed, keeping your body groomed and brushed helps prevent illness and infection from bacteria or viruses. But how did they cope in antiquity? Soap was rare, and toothpaste hadn't been invented. There were crude versions of deodorant being passed around but, frankly, staying scrubbed was a chore. So, how exactly did early civilizations wash and cleanse themselves?
Click through this gallery and find out how antiquity kept itself clean.
How did early civilizations stay clean?
The evolution of the wash and wipe
LIFESTYLE History
Maintaining good personal hygiene is vital. It keeps us clean and healthy, and supports a strong immune system. Indeed, keeping your body groomed and brushed helps prevent illness and infection from bacteria or viruses. But how did they cope in antiquity? Soap was rare, and toothpaste hadn't been invented. There were crude versions of deodorant being passed around but, frankly, staying scrubbed was a chore. So, how exactly did early civilizations wash and cleanse themselves?
Click through this gallery and find out how antiquity kept itself clean.