BathEmpire

A (very brief) history of bathing

Posted on 20. May, 2011 by Charlotte Laing in Weird and Wonderful

Have you ever wondered why you’ve got a bath in your home?

This might seem like an odd question and you’ve probably never given it much thought, but the bathtub has a long and pretty interesting history.

Bathing as we know it has come about as a result of many different cultures embracing the process of daily washing in very different ways, and in the western world we’ve ended up with the deep bathtubs which most of us have in our bathrooms today.

Roman Baths, Bath

Let’s go right back to the beginning.

It’s most likely that people have been taking baths, of some form, since around 3300BC – something we know because pipes resembling plumbing for baths have been discovered in the Indus Valley in India.

The first actual bathtub – a 1.5 metre long pedestal tub – was found on the Isle of Crete, however.

The Romans are perhaps the people most well known for their baths and there’s no doubt that bathing was a big part of Roman culture, with daily baths the norm. Unlike us though, the Romans preferred public bath houses.

The Greeks and Egyptians also built elaborate, expensive bathhouses and like the Romans would use them to conduct business, gossip with friends, eat, drink, or arrange sexual liaisons.

While the Romans bathed for health though, the Greeks viewed bathing as something you did to clean yourself before conducting business, after work, or before taking part in battle. They also believed only women should immerse their whole body in water.

The famous Egyptian Queen Cleopatra is reported to have bathed in milk and herbs to make her skin radiant.

The Turks also had their own bathing tradition – they developed very hot baths, which to this day are still known as Turkish Baths, or steam baths. Their bathhouses were artistic places, with no expense spared, including rich hand-woven carpets, tapestries and ornate columns.

Japan is another culture known for having bathing customs and a fixation on cleanliness. The pursuit of purity, hygiene and ritual purification were an important part of Japanese culture and early on bathing was done communally without regard for division of the sexes, although later there was some segregation.

Bathing’s also important within Muslim culture. Bathhouses were erected where one could meditate, pray, or think. It was customary to cleanse before going to the mosque, so many mosques were therefore built next to bathhouses.

You can read more about the history of the bath here on Wikipedia.

Rather bizarrely taking a bath ‘fell out of fashion’ in Europe some time after the renaissance, and was replaced by the use of heavy perfume. We’re very glad we didn’t live in that era.

It’s reported, but not confirmed that Queen Elizabeth I, for example, only took one bath a year.

One of the main reasons for the demise of bathing was that epidemics quickly took hold after diseases were spread by communally used water. In addition, early viaducts were made of lead and it was discovered that this was a source poisoning.

Wikipedia also suggests here that keeping clean was seen as a sensual act – especially if you were bathing in public. It wasn’t in-keeping with the strict Christian morality of the era.

After the plagues in the early 1800s however, officials started looking into whether bathing, individually rather than communally, might actually be part of the cure for the nation’s ill health, rather than a cause of illness.

It was not until the late 19th century that taking a bath had a renaissance though. Cast-iron bathtubs were put into production in 1883, and quickly caught on – but this time in private, rather than communal bathrooms.

By the end of the Second World War, most houses being built had a bathroom.

The claw-foot bath was the most popular style initially, but as manufacturing technology improved many home-owners opted for smaller built-in baths.

Over the past ten years we’ve seen a nostalgia for claw-foot baths, and they are regarded as stylish and comfortable.

So now you know the history of the humble bath – something to mull over next time you’re relaxing peacefully in the tub!

Tags: bath spa, bath tub designs, bathing rituals, claw foot baths, history of the bath, history of the hot tub, in-built baths