Editing Hygiene (section)

==History==
[[File:Stamnos women bath Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2411.jpg|thumb|Three young women bathing, {{BCE|440–430}}. Ancient Greece.]]
[[File:Katalog vintern 1905-1906. AB Nordiska Kompaniet. Hår-, Toalett- & Tandvatten, Pomada & Brilliantine - Nordiska Museet - NMA.0040796.jpg|thumb|Swedish advert for toiletries, 1905–1906]]
{{See also|Public health#History|History of water supply and sanitation}}

===Asia===
====China====
Bathing culture in [[Chinese literature]] can be traced back to the [[Shang dynasty]] ({{BCE|1600–1046}}), when [[Oracle bone]] inscriptions describe people washing their hair and body in a bath. The ''[[Book of Rites]]'', a work regarding [[Zhou dynasty]] ({{BCE|1046–256}}) ritual, politics, and culture compiled during the [[Warring States period]], recommends that people take a hot shower every five days, and wash their hair every three days. It was also considered good manners to take a bath provided by the host before a [[dinner]]. In the [[Han dynasty]], bathing became a regular activity, and for government officials bathing was required every five days.<ref name="woc">{{cite web|url=https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2021/07/bathing-in-ancient-times/ |title=Bathing in Ancient Times |website= theworldofchinese |date=1 July 2021 |first=Jiahui |last=Sun}}</ref>

Ancient bath facilities have been found in ancient Chinese cities, such as Dongzhouyang archaeological site in [[Henan Province]]. Bathrooms were called {{transliteration|zh|Bi}} ({{zh|t=湢}}), and bathtubs were made of bronze or timber.<ref name="vc">{{cite web|author=Awen|url=https://www.viewofchina.com/ancient-chinese-bath-culture/ |title=Ancient Chinese Bath Culture |website=View of China |date=30 April 2019}}</ref> Bath beans – a powdery soap mixture of ground beans, cloves, eaglewood, flowers, and even powdered jade – were recorded in the Han Dynasty. Bath beans were considered luxury toiletries, while common people simply used powdered beans without spices mixed in. Luxurious bathhouses built around hot springs were recorded in [[Tang dynasty]].<ref name="woc"/> While royal bathhouses and bathrooms were common among ancient Chinese nobles and commoners, public bathhouses were a relatively late development. In the [[Song dynasty]] ({{CE|960–1279}}), public bathhouses became popular and people could find them readily.<ref name="vc" /> [[Bathing]] became an essential part of social life and recreation. Bathhouses often provided massage, nail cutting service, rubdown service, [[ear picking|ear cleaning]], food, and beverages.<ref name="vc" /> [[Marco Polo]], who traveled to China during the [[Yuan dynasty]], noted Chinese bathhouses were using [[coal]] to heat the bathhouse, which he had never seen before in Europe.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Golas|first1=Peter J.|last2=Needham|first2=Joseph|year=1999|title=Science and Civilisation in China|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=186–91|isbn=0-521-58000-5}}</ref> Coal was so plentiful that Chinese people of every social class had bathrooms in their houses, and people took showers every day in the winter for enjoyment.<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite web|url=https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/4sub8/entry-5456.html#chapter-1|title= Marco Polo's Descriptions of China |website=Facts and Details}}
|2={{Cite web|url=https://www.dianewolff.com/marco_polo_s_world_134107.htm|first=Diane|last=Wolff|title=Marco Polo's World|website=www.dianewolff.com}}
}}</ref>

A typical [[Ming dynasty]] bathhouse had slabbed floors and brick domed ceilings. A huge boiler would be installed in the back of the house, connected with the bathing pool through a tunnel. Water could be pumped into the pool by [[Water wheel|turning wheel]]s attended by the staff.<ref name="vc" />

==== Japan ====
The origin of Japanese bathing is {{transliteration|ja|[[misogi]]}}, ritual purification with water.<ref name="Clark1994">{{ cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pT7tP4zFHdYC | title = Japan: A View from the Bath | isbn = 978-0-8248-1657-5 | last1 = Clark | first1 = Scott| year = 1994 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press }}</ref>

In the [[Heian period]] ({{CE|794–1185}}), houses of prominent families, such as the families of court nobles or samurai, had baths. The bath had lost its religious significance and instead became leisure. {{transliteration|ja|Misogi}} became {{transliteration|ja|gyōzui}} (to bathe in a shallow wooden tub).{{r|Clark1994|page=36}} In the 17th century, the first European visitors to Japan recorded the habit of daily baths in mixed sex groups.{{r|Clark1994}}

==== Indian subcontinent ====
The earliest written account of elaborate codes of hygiene can be found in several Hindu texts, such as the [[Manusmriti]] and the [[Vishnu Purana]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Aryan Code of Toilets (2nd Century AD)|url=https://www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org/history-of-toilets/aryan-code-of-toilets-2nd-century-ad/|website=Sulabh International Museum of Toilets}}</ref> Bathing is one of the five {{transliteration|sa|[[nitya karma]]s}} (daily duties) in Hinduism, and not performing it leads to sin, according to some scriptures.

[[Ayurveda]] is a system of medicine developed in ancient times that is still practiced in India, mostly combined with conventional Western medicine. Contemporary Ayurveda stresses a [[sattvic diet]] and good digestion and [[excretion]]. Hygiene measures include [[oil pulling]], and [[tongue scraping]]. Detoxification also plays an important role.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ajanal|first1=Manjunath|last2=Nayak|first2=Shradda|last3=Prasad|first3=Buduru Sreenivasa|last4=Kadam|first4=Avinash|date=2013-10-23|title=Adverse drug reaction and concepts of drug safety in Ayurveda: An overview|journal=Journal of Young Pharmacists|volume=5|issue=4|pages=116–120|doi=10.1016/j.jyp.2013.10.001|issn=0975-1483|pmc=3930110|pmid=24563588}}</ref>

===The Americas===
====Mesoamerica====
[[File:Codex Magliabechiano (folio 77r).jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Codex Magliabechiano]] from the Loubat collection, 1904]]
[[Spain|Spanish]] chronicles describe the bathing habits of the peoples of [[Mesoamerica]] during and after the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|conquest]].
[[Bernal Díaz del Castillo]] describes [[Moctezuma II|Moctezuma]] (the Mexica, or [[Aztec]], [[emperor]] at the arrival of [[Hernán Cortés|Cortés]]) in his {{Lang|es|Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España}} as being "...Very neat and cleanly, bathing every day each afternoon...".

Bathing was not restricted to the elite, but was practiced by all people; the chronicler Tomás López Medel wrote after a journey to [[Central America]] that " and the custom of washing oneself is so quotidian [common] amongst the Indians, both of cold and hot lands, as is eating, and this is done in fountains and rivers and other water to which they have access, without anything other than pure water..."<ref name="Noriega Hernández 2004">{{cite thesis |last=Noriega Hernández|first=Joana Cecilia|url=http://148.206.53.231/UAMI11028.PDF |title=El baño temascal novohispano, de Moctezuma a Revillagigedo. Reflexiones sobre prácticas de higiene y expresiones de sociabilidad|lang=es-MX|date=2004 |access-date=2012-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406041619/http://148.206.53.231/UAMI11028.PDF |archive-date=2013-04-06 }}</ref>

The Mesoamerican bath, known as {{Lang|es|temazcal}} in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], from the Nahuatl word {{lang|nah|temazcalli}}, a compound of {{lang|nah|temaz}} ("steam") and {{lang|nah|calli}} ("house"), consists of a room, often in the form of a small dome, with an exterior firebox known as {{lang|nah|texictle}} ({{IPA|teʃict͜ɬe}}) that heats a small portion of the room's wall made of volcanic rocks; after this wall has been heated, water is poured on it to produce steam, an action known as {{lang|nah|tlasas}}. As the steam accumulates in the upper part of the room a person in charge uses a bough to direct the steam to the bathers who are lying on the ground, with which he later gives them a massage, then the bathers scrub themselves with a small flat river stone and finally the person in charge introduces buckets with water along with soap and grass used to rinse. This bath had also ritual importance, and was tied to the goddess [[Toci]]; it is also therapeutic when medicinal herbs are used in the water for the {{lang|nah|tlasas}}. It is still used in [[Mexico]].<ref name="Noriega Hernández 2004"/>

===Europe===

====Antiquity====
[[File:Roman Baths in Bath Spa, England - July 2006.jpg|alt=Photograph of the Baths showing a rectangular area of greenish water surrounded by yellow stone buildings with pillars. In the background is the tower of the abbey.|thumb|[[Roman Baths (Bath)|Roman public baths]] ([[Thermae]]) in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], England]]
Regular bathing was a hallmark of [[Ancient Rome|Roman civilization]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Roman bath houses|url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/snapshot_rom_bath.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204115107/http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/snapshot_rom_bath.html|archive-date=4 February 2007|website=Time Team|publisher=Channel Four Television Corporation}}</ref> Elaborate [[Thermae|baths]] were constructed in urban areas to serve the public, who typically demanded the infrastructure to maintain personal cleanliness. The complexes usually consisted of large, swimming pool-like baths, smaller cold and hot pools, saunas, and spa-like facilities where people could be depilated, oiled, and massaged. Water was constantly changed by an [[Roman aqueduct|aqueduct]]-fed flow. Bathing outside of urban centers involved smaller, less elaborate bathing facilities, or simply the use of clean bodies of water. Roman cities also had large [[sanitary sewer|sewers]], such as Rome's [[Cloaca Maxima]], into which public and private latrines drained. Romans did not have demand-flush toilets but did have some toilets with a continuous flow of water under them. The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] used [[scent]]ed [[oils]] (mostly from Egypt), among other alternatives.

[[Christianity]] has always placed a strong [[Ablution in Christianity|emphasis on hygiene]].<ref name="Squatriti">{{cite book|first=Myra|last=Rutherdale|chapter=Ordering the Bath: Children, Health, and Hygiene in Northern Canadian Communities, 1900–1970|editor-last=Warsh|editor-first=Cheryl Krasnick|title=Children's Health Issues in Historical Perspective|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|editor-first2=Veronica |editor-last2=Strong-Boag|year=2006|isbn=978-0-88920-912-1|page=315|quote=... Thus bathing also was considered a part of good health practice. For example, Tertullian attended the baths and believed them hygienic. Clement of Alexandria, while condemning excesses, had given guidelines for Christian] who wished to attend the baths ...}}</ref> Despite rejecting [[mixed bathing]],<ref name="Gibson1903">{{cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Margaret Dunlop |title=The Didascalia Apostolorum in English |date=1903 |publisher=C.J. Clay |pages=9–10 |language=English}}</ref> [[early Christian]] clergy encouraged believers to bath,<ref name="Squatriti" /> which contributed to hygiene and good health according to the [[Church Father]]s [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Tertullian]].<ref name="Mary Thurlkill">{{cite book|last=Thurlkill|first=Mary|title=Sacred Scents in Early Christianity and Islam: Studies in Body and Religion|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2016|isbn=978-0-7391-7453-1|pages=6–11|quote=...Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 215 CE) allowed that bathing contributed to good health and hygiene... Christian skeptics could not easily dissuade the baths' practical popularity, however; popes continued to build baths situated within church basilicas and monasteries throughout the early medieval period...}}</ref><ref name="Paolo Squatriti">{{cite book|last=Squatriti|first=Paolo|title=Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400-1000, Parti 400–1000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-521-52206-9|page=54|quote=...but baths were normally considered therapeutic until the days of Gregory the Great, who understood virtuous bathing to be bathing "on account of the needs of body"...}}</ref> The Church built [[public bathing]] facilities that were separated by sex near [[Christian monasticism|monasteries]] and pilgrimage sites. 

{{Further|Hygiene in Christianity#History}}

====Middle Ages====
Contrary to popular belief,<ref>{{cite web|first=Melissa|last=Snell|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/weddings-and-hygiene-1788715|title=Middle Ages Weddings and Hygiene|website=ThoughtCo.|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-date=2017-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130223521/http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylifesociety/a/bod_weddings.htm}}</ref> [[bathing]] and [[sanitation]] were not lost in Europe with the collapse of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/black_death.html|title=The Great Famine and the Black Death – 1315–1317, 1346–1351|website=Lectures in Medieval History |first=Lynn H. |last=Nelson}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middle-ages-hygiene.htm|title=Middle Ages Hygiene|work=middle-ages.org.uk}}</ref> Starting in the early Middle Ages, [[popes]] situated baths within church [[basilica]]s and monasteries.<ref name="Mary Thurlkill" /> Pope [[Gregory the Great]] promoted [[bathing]] as a bodily need.<ref name="Paolo Squatriti" /> The [[Anal hygiene|use of water]] in many [[Christian countries]] is partly due to Biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation.<ref name="Clark 2006">{{cite book|last=E. Clark|first=Mary|title=Contemporary Biology: Concepts and Implications|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7216-2597-3|page=613|quote=Douching is commonly practiced in Catholic countries. The bidet... is still commonly found in France and other Catholic countries.}}</ref> [[Bidet]] and [[bidet shower]]s were used in regions where water was considered essential for [[anal cleansing]].<ref name="Clark 2006" /><ref>{{cite book | last=Forgione | first=Angelo| title=Made in Naples: Come Napoli ha civilizzato l'Europa (e come continua a farlo) | publisher=Addictions-Magenes Editoriale | date=2013 | isbn=978-88-6649-039-5 | language=it|trans-title=Made in Naples. How Naples civilised Europe (And still does it)}}</ref> [[Public bathing|Public bathhouses]] were common in medieval [[Christendom]] larger towns and cities such as [[Constantinople]], [[Paris]], [[Regensburg]], [[Rome]] and [[Naples]].<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book|title=The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions|first=Winston |last= Black|year= 2019| isbn=  978-1-4408-6232-8| page =61 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|quote=Public baths were common in the larger towns and cities of Europe by the twelfth century.}}
|2={{cite book|title=Perception and Action in Medieval Europe|first=Harald|last=Kleinschmidt|year= 2005| isbn=978-1-84383-146-4| page =61 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer}}</ref> Great bathhouses were built in [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine centers]] such as [[Constantinople]] and [[Antioch]].<ref>{{citation | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan|editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan | title = Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6}}{{page needed|date=August 2023}}
|3={{cite book |last1=Kourkoutidou-Nikolaidou |first1=E. |last2=Tourta |first2=A.|year=1997 |title=Wandering in Byzantine Thessaloniki |publisher=Kapon Editions |isbn=960-7254-47-3 |page=87}}
}}</ref>

[[File:Βυζαντινό λουτρό Άνω Πόλης 1788.jpg|thumb|[[Byzantine Bath (Thessaloniki)|Byzantine Bath]] in [[Thessaloniki]]]]

In the 11th and 12th centuries, bathing was essential to the Western European upper class: the [[Cluniac]] monasteries (popular centers for resorting and retiring) were always equipped with bathhouses. These baths were also used ritually when the monks took full immersion baths at the two Christian festivals of renewal.<ref name=PB>{{cite book|first=Philippe|last=Braunstein|chapter=Solitude: eleventh to the thirteenth century|title=A History of Private Life|volume=II. Revelations of the Medieval World|editor-last=Duby|editor-first=Georges|year=1988|page=525}}</ref> The rules of the [[Augustinians]] and [[Benedictines]] contained references to [[ritual purification]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The English Spa, 1560–1815: A Social History|first=Phyllis|last= Hembry|year= 1990| isbn= 978-0-8386-3391-5|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press}}</ref> and, inspired by [[Benedict of Nursia]], encouraged the practice of therapeutic bathing. [[Benedictine]] monks also played a role in the development and promotion of [[spa]]s.<ref name=ASpiritualHistory>{{cite book | title = Water: A Spiritual History| first =Ian |last=Bradley| year =2012| isbn= 978-1-4411-6767-5|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref>

On the other hand, bathing also sparked erotic phantasies, played upon by the writers of [[Romance (heroic literature)|romances]] intended for the upper class;{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} in the tale of [[Melusine]] the bath was a crucial element of the plot.
{{Blockquote|text=Bathing and grooming were regarded with suspicion by moralists, however, because they unveiled the attractiveness of the body. Bathing was said to be a prelude to sin, and in the penitential of [[Burchard of Worms]] we find a full catalogue of the sins that ensued when men and women bathed together.{{r|PB}}}} Cities regulated public bathing – the 26 public baths of Paris in the late 13th century were strictly overseen by the civil authorities {{r|PB}} and guild laws banned prostitutes from bathhouse admission.<ref>{{cite book|title=Women's Lives in Medieval Europe: A Sourcebook|chapter=Le Livre des Métiers|first=Etienne|last=de Boileu|publisher=Routledge|page=162|year=1993|editor-last=Amt|editor-first=Emilie}}</ref> 

{{anchor|Dürer}}[[File:Albrecht Durer, "Woman's Bath".jpg|thumb|''Women's Bath'', 1496, by [[Albrecht Dürer]]]]

In 14th century Tuscany, newlywed couples commonly took a bath together and we find an illustration of this custom in a fresco in the town hall of San Gimignano.<ref>Fresco of {{circa|1320}} illustrated in {{cite book|first=Charles|last=de la Roncière|chapter=Tuscan notables on the eve of the Renaissance|title=A History of Private Life|volume=II. Revelations of the Medieval World|editor-last=Duby|editor-first=Georges|year=1988|page=232}}</ref> 
As evident in [[Hans Folz]]' ''Bath Booklet'' (a late 15th century guide on European baths)<ref>{{cite book | title=Bodily and Spiritual Hygiene in Medieval and Early Modern Literature: Explorations of Textual Presentations of Filth and Water|first=Albrecht|last=Classen|year=2017|isbn=978-3-11-052379-9|publisher=de Gruyter|page=535}}</ref> and various artistic depictions such as [[Albrecht Dürer]]'s ''Women's Bath'' {{see above|[[#Dürer|above]]}}, public bathing continued to be a popular past time in the [[Renaissance]]. In Britain, the rise of [[Protestantism]] also played a prominent role in the development of [[spa]] culture.<ref name="ASpiritualHistory"/>

====Modernity====
Until the late 19th century, only the elite in Western cities typically possessed indoor facilities for relieving bodily functions. The poorer majority used communal facilities built above [[cesspool]]s in backyards and courtyards. This changed after Dr. [[John Snow (physician)|John Snow]] discovered that [[cholera]] was [[Fecal–oral route|transmitted by the fecal contamination]] of water. Though it took decades for his findings to gain wide acceptance, governments and sanitary reformers were eventually convinced of the health benefits of using [[Sewerage|sewers]] to keep human waste from contaminating the water. This encouraged the widespread adoption of both the [[flush toilet]] and the moral imperative that bathrooms should be indoors and as private as possible.<ref>{{Cite web|year=2001|title=Water Sanitation and Hygiene|url=https://www.gatesfoundation.org/our-work/programs/global-growth-and-opportunity/water-sanitation-and-hygiene|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Bill & Melinda Gates foundation|language=en}}</ref>{{Verify source|reason=page doesn't seem to say anything about the topics in the paragraph|date=August 2023}}

Modern sanitation was not widely adopted until the 19th and 20th centuries. According to medieval historian Lynn Thorndike, people in [[Middle Ages|Medieval Europe]] probably bathed more than people did in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/mtales08.htm |last=Matterer|first=James L.|title=Daily Life|website=Gode Cookery: Tales of the Middle Ages|access-date=22 February 2017}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2023}} Some time after [[Louis Pasteur]]'s experiments proved the [[germ theory of disease]] and [[Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister|Joseph Lister]] and others put this into practice in [[sanitation]], hygienic practices came to be regarded as synonymous with [[health]], as they are in modern times.

The importance of hand washing for human health{{snd}}particularly for people in vulnerable circumstances like mothers who had just given birth or wounded soldiers in hospitals{{snd}}was first recognized in the mid 19th century by two pioneers of hand hygiene: the Hungarian physician [[Ignaz Semmelweis]] who worked in Vienna, Austria, and [[Florence Nightingale]], the English "founder of modern nursing".<ref name="GPPH">{{Cite web|website = Global Handwashing Partnership|title=History |url = https://globalhandwashing.org/about-handwashing/history-of-handwashing/|date = 19 March 2015|access-date = 18 April 2015}}</ref> At that time most people still believed that infections were caused by foul odors called [[miasma theory|miasmas]].

===Middle East===
[[File:Ali Gholi Agha hammam, Isfahan, Iran.jpg|thumb|[[Ali Gholi Agha hammam]], [[Isfahan]], Iran]]
[[Islam]] stresses the importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Majeed |first1=Azeem|title=How Islam changed medicine |journal=BMJ |date=22 December 2005 |volume=331 |issue=7531 |pages=1486–1487 |doi=10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1486 |pmid=16373721 |pmc=1322233 |language=en |issn=0959-8138}}</ref> [[Islamic hygienical jurisprudence]], which dates back to the 7th century, has a number of elaborate rules. {{transliteration|ar|[[Islam|Taharah]]}} (ritual purity) involves performing {{transliteration|ar|[[wudu]]}} (ablution) for the five daily {{transliteration|ar|[[salah]]}} (prayers), as well as regularly performing {{transliteration|ar|[[ghusl]]}} (bathing), which led to [[Turkish bath|bathhouses]] being built across the [[Islamic world]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/tahara-Islam|title=Ṭahāra &#124; Islam|website=Britannica}}</ref> [[Islamic toilet etiquette|Islamic toilet hygiene]] also requires [[Anal cleansing|washing with water]] after using the toilet, for purity and to minimize pathogens.<ref>{{citation |first=Israr |last=Hasan|year=2006 |title=Muslims in America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5J493fDF38C |isbn=978-1-4259-4243-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k5J493fDF38C&pg=PA144 144]|publisher=AuthorHouse }}</ref>

In the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] (8th–13th centuries), its capital city of [[Baghdad]] (Iraq) had 65,000 baths, along with a sewer system.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Judith |last1=Kidd |first2=Rosemary |last2=Rees |first3=Ruth|last3= Tudor|year=2000 |title=Life in Medieval Times |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=0-435-32594-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=J5wtyi4-GsgC&pg=PA165 165] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5wtyi4-GsgC}}</ref> Cities and towns of the [[medieval Islamic world]] had [[water supply system]]s powered by [[hydraulic]] technology that supplied [[drinking water]] along with much greater quantities of water for ritual washing, mainly in [[mosques]] and [[Turkish bath|hammams]] (baths). Bathing establishments in various cities were rated by Arabic writers in [[travel guide]]s. Medieval Islamic cities such as Baghdad, [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] ([[Islamic Spain]]), [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]] (Morocco), and [[Fustat]] (Egypt) also had sophisticated [[waste disposal]] and [[sewage system]]s with interconnected networks of sewers. The city of Fustat also had multi-storey [[tenement]] buildings (with up to six floors) with [[flush toilet]]s, which were connected to a water supply system, and [[flue]]s on each floor carrying waste to underground channels.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Colin |last1=Chant|first2= David|last2= Goodman|title=Pre-Industrial Cities and Technology |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=1-134-63620-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hK-EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 136]–38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hK-EAgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

A basic form of [[Infection|contagion]] theory dates back to the Persian medicine in the medieval, where it was proposed by Persian physician [[Ibn Sina]] (also known as Avicenna) in ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' (1025), the most authoritative medical textbook of the Middle Ages. He mentioned that people can transmit disease to others by breath, noted contagion with [[tuberculosis]], and discussed the transmission of disease through water and dirt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Byrne |first1=Joseph Patrick |title=Encyclopedia of the Black Death |year=2012 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-59884-253-1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5KtDfvlSrDAC&pg=PA29 29] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5KtDfvlSrDAC}}</ref> The concept of invisible contagion was eventually widely accepted by [[Islamic scholars]]. In the [[Ayyubid Sultanate]], they referred to them as {{transliteration|ar|[[najasat]]}} ("impure substances"). The {{transliteration|ar|[[fiqh]]}} scholar [[Ibn al-Haj al-Abdari]] ({{c.|1250–1336}}), while discussing [[Islamic dietary laws|Islamic diet]] and hygiene, gave advice and warnings about how contagion can contaminate water, food, and garments, and could spread through the water supply.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reid |first1=Megan H. |title=Law and Piety in Medieval Islam |year=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-06711-0 |pages=106, 114, 189–190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5fJ4AAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

In the 9th century, [[Ziryab]] invented a type of [[deodorant]].<ref name="Menocal">{{cite book|title=The Literature of Al-Andalus|editor-last1=Menocal|editor-first1=María Rosa|editor-first2=Raymond P.|editor-last2=Scheindlin|editor-first3=Michael Anthony|editor-last3=Sells|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000}}</ref> He also promoted morning and evening baths, and emphasized the maintenance of personal hygiene. Ziryab is thought to have invented a type of [[toothpaste]], which he popularized throughout [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Iberia]].<ref name="Sertima">{{cite book|last=van Sertima|first=Ivan|author-link=Ivan van Sertima|year=1992|title=The Golden Age of the Moor|page=[https://archive.org/details/goldenageofmoor00vans/page/267 267]|publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]]|isbn=978-1-56000-581-0|url=https://archive.org/details/goldenageofmoor00vans}}</ref> The exact ingredients of this toothpaste are not known,<ref name="Lebling">{{cite journal|last=Lebling|first=Robert W. Jr.|title=Flight of the Blackbird|journal=[[Saudi Aramco World]]|date=July–August 2003|pages=24–33|url=http://www.islamicspain.tv/Arts-and-Science/flight_of_the_blackbird.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214171154/http://www.islamicspain.tv/Arts-and-Science/flight_of_the_blackbird.htm|archive-date=2007-12-14|access-date=28 January 2008}}</ref> but it was reported to have been both "functional and pleasant to taste."<ref name="Sertima" />

=== Sub-Saharan Africa ===
In [[West Africa]], various ethnic groups such as the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] have used [[African black soap|black soap]] to treat skin diseases.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ikpoh |first1=I.S |last2=Lennox |first2=J.A. |last3=Agbo |first3=B.E. |last4=Udoekong |first4=N.S. |last5=Ekpo |first5=I.A. |last6=Iyam |first6=S.O. |date=January 2012 |title=Comparative studies on the effect of locally made black soap and conventional medicated soaps on isolated human skin microflora |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303544065 |journal=Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology Research |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=533–537 |via=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref>

In [[Southern Africa]], the [[Zulu people]] conducted methods of sanitation by using water stored in pottery at [[Ulundi]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/26731539 | title=99 Zulu Indigenous Practices in Water and Sanitation: Preliminary Field Research on Indigenous Practices in Water and Sanitation Conducted at Ulundi | last1=Mbatha | first1=Sandile }}</ref> The [[Himba people]] of [[Namibia]] and [[Angola]] also utilized mixtures of smoke and [[Otjize|otjitze]] treat skin diseases in regions where water is scarce.

=== Soap and soap makers ===
{{Main|Soap#History}}
[[File:Marseiller Seife.jpg|thumb|[[Marseille soap]] in blocks of {{cvt|600|g}}]]
Hard toilet [[soap]] with a pleasant smell was invented in the [[Middle East]] during the [[Islamic Golden Age]] when soap-making became an established industry. Recipes for soap-making are described by [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]] ({{circa|865–925}}), who also gave a recipe for producing [[glycerine]] from [[olive oil]]. In the Middle East, soap was produced from the interaction of fatty oils and [[fat]]s with [[alkali]]. In [[Syria]], soap was produced using olive oil together with alkali and [[Lime (material)|lime]]. Soap was exported from Syria to other parts of the [[Muslim world]] and to Europe.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Ahmad Y.|editor-last=al-Hassan|editor-link=Ahmad Y. al-Hassan|year=2001|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=h2g1qte4iegC&pg=PA73 73]–74|title=Science and Technology in Islam: Technology and applied sciences|series=The Different Aspects of Islamic Culture|volume=4|publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref> Two key Islamic innovations in [[soapmaking]] was the invention of [[bar soap]], described by al-Razi, and the addition of [[scent]]s using [[perfume]] technology perfected in the Islamic world.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kalın|first1=İbrahim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=or-6BwAAQBAJ|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam|year=2014|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-981257-8|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=or-6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 137]}}</ref>

By the 15th century, the manufacture of soap in Christendom had become virtually industrialized, with sources in [[Antwerp]], [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], [[Marseille]], [[Naples]], and [[Venice]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Anionic and Related Lime Soap Dispersants|first=Raymond G. Jr. | last=Bistline | editor-last=Stache | editor-first=Helmut W.| title=Anionic Surfactants: Organic Chemistry | series=Surfactant science series|volume=56|publisher=CRC Press | year=1996 | isbn=0-8247-9394-3|page=632}}</ref> In the 17th century the Spanish [[Catholicism|Catholic]] manufacturers purchased the [[monopoly]] on [[Castile soap]] from the cash-strapped [[Charles I of England|Carolinian]] government.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gregg|first=Pauline|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2v69fUCDxYC|title=King Charles I|publisher=Dent|year=1981|isbn=978-0-460-04437-0|location=London|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=h2v69fUCDxYC&pg=PA218 218]|oclc=9944510|author-link=Pauline Gregg}}</ref> Industrially-manufactured bar soaps became available in the late 18th century, as advertising campaigns in Europe and America promoted popular awareness of the relationship between cleanliness and health.<ref>{{cite book|last=McNeil|first=Ian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uxsOAAAAQAAJ|title=An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1990|isbn=978-0-415-01306-2|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uxsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA203 203]–205|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505145316/https://books.google.com/books?id=uxsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA203|archive-date=2016-05-05|url-status=live}}</ref>

A major contribution of the [[Christian missionaries]] in [[Africa]],<ref>{{cite book |last= Newell|first= Stephanie|title=International Encyclopaedia of Tribal Religion: Christianity and tribal religions|year=2006|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8214-1709-6|page=40}}</ref> [[China]],<ref>{{cite book |last= Grypma |first=Sonya|title=Healing Henan: Canadian Nurses at the North China Mission, 1888–1947|year=2008|publisher=University of British Columbia Press|quote=the Gospel of Christ was central to the 'missionary' aspect of missionary nursing, the gospel of soap and water was central to 'nursing' aspect of their works.|isbn=978-0-7748-5821-2|page=27}}</ref> [[Guatemala]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Kedron|title=Securing the City: Neoliberalism, Space, and Insecurity in Postwar Guatemala|year=2011|publisher=Duke University Press|quote=Christian hygiene existed (and still exists) as one small but ever important part of this modernization project. Hygiene provides an incredibly mundane, deeply routinized, marker of Christian civility ...Identifying the rural poor as 'The Great Unwashed,' Haymaker published Christian pamphlets on health and hygiene,... of personal hygiene' (filled with soap, toothpaste, and floss), attempt to shape Christian Outreach and Ethnicity.|isbn= 978-0-8223-4958-7|pages=180–181}}</ref> [[India]],<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite book |last= Bauman |first=Chad M.|title=Christian Identity and Dalit Religion in Hindu India, 1868–1947|year=2008|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|quote=Along with the use of allopathic medicine, greater hygiene was one of the most frequently mobilized markers of the boundary between Christians and other communities of Chhattisgarh... The missionaries had made no secret of preaching 'soap; along with 'salvation'...|isbn=978-0-8028-6276-1|page=160}}
|2={{cite book |last=Baral|first= K. C.|title=Between Ethnography and Fiction: Verrier Elwin and the Tribal Question in India|year=2005|publisher=North Eastern Hill University Press|quote=where slavery was in vogue Christianity advocated its end and personal hygiene was encouraged|isbn=978-81-250-2812-3|page=151}}
}}</ref> [[Indonesia]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first= J. Gelman|title=Cleanliness and Culture: Indonesian Histories|year=2011 |publisher=Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies|quote=Cleanliness and Godliness: These examples indicate that real cleanliness was becoming the preserve of Europeans, and, it has to be added, of Christianity. Soap became an attribute of God — or rather the Protestant|isbn=978-90-04-25361-2|pages=22–23}}</ref> [[Korea]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Choi|first=Hyaeweol|title=Gender and Mission Encounters in Korea: New Women, Old Ways: Seoul-California Series in Korean Studies|volume=1|year=2009|publisher=University of California Press|quote=In this way, Western forms of hygiene, health care and child rearing became an important part of creating the modern Christian in Korea.|isbn=978-0-520-09869-5|page=83}}</ref> and other places was better [[health care]] through hygiene and introducing and distributing soap,<ref>{{cite book |last= Channa|first=Subhadra|title=The Forger's Tale: The Search for Odeziaku|year=2009|publisher= Indiana University Press|quote=A major contribution of the Christian missionaries was better health care of the people through hygiene. Soap, tooth-powder and brushes came to be used increasingly in urban areas.|isbn=978-81-7755-050-4|page=284}}</ref> and "cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian".<ref>{{cite book |last= Thomas|first=John|title=Evangelising the Nation: Religion and the Formation of Naga Political Identity|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|quote=cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian|isbn=978-1-317-41398-1|page=284}}</ref>