The bath is an ancient article of human living with predecessors being built as far back as 2000 BC, such as those in the city of Mohenjo-Daro in India. There have been bathing structures also found in Crete, Egypt, and Greece dating between 1700 and 400 BC, the later ones were those built as separate structures offering hot, mild, and cold water, while most of the former baths were simply additions to gymnasiums and only offered cold water. By the second century BC there were bath houses in Rome that featured extensive construction: a central courtyard served as a place of exercise and was surrounded by a dressing room (apodyterium), a hot bath (calidarium), a steam bath (laconicum), a warm bath (tepidarium), and a cold bath. Hot air was circulated through these bath houses with flues while aqueducts brought in water from great distances. Some of these Roman bath houses also had shops, gymnasiums, lectures halls, libraries, and gardens. Due to the mixed-gender nature of many of these baths, they became quite renowned as centers of debauchery.
During the
middle ages, the
Church presented the notion that bathing was an
indulgence and discouraged it as being unhealthy and unclean (imagine that). Much of the negative reputation of baths was created by the
perverse nature of the earlier Roman bath houses mixing with the virtues of the Church. At the same time, in
Finland and
Russia, the
steam bath was becoming increasingly common. The steam bath (the Finnish word for which is
sauna) was basically a wooden hut with benches lining the wall; water was exposed to
heated stones in the center of the room which caused it to fill with steam, the occupants would then wash themselves clean before submersing themselves in either icy water or
snow. Also, at this time, were baths common in
Islamic societies which valued bathing for hygienic, medical, and even religious purposes. The Islamic bath was quite sophisticated compared to others at this time, it was a large dome that was heated by steam and surrounded by many smaller, more private, rooms. Baths of such kinds were only seen in cities also containing a
mosque, and were social palaces that one could enjoy refreshments and meet with friends in.
The
Japanese might hold a slightly more familiar form of bathing to
Westerners, for even the earliest of Japanese bathing was done in private by an individual, this was preceded by the fact that almost every Japanese home had its own bath. However, families and friends often would bath together in larger “
hot tubs” when they desired, and public bathing was usually done in a
mineral or
hot spring. If you were to visit Japan today you might recognize these customs as they have not changed (much) in the centuries past.
It wasn’t until the 18th and 19th centuries that bathing became a common (and now
secular) habit among the rich. But the
Industrial Revolution of the 19th century caused dirt and uncleanliness to spread so much that eventually the entire
upper class began to adopt baths in their homes and public baths were being made by the city for the
lower class made of such materials as
wood,
copper, and
iron. Finally, in the late
20th century, cleanliness became valued so highly by Westerners that almost every habitat was now being built with private
bathrooms installed. The baths of this era were typically built of
porcelain enamel, which eventually gave rise to the modern-day
shower.
Sources:
Microsoft Encarta 2002, Baths
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples