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I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

going-medieval.com

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Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#171

Post by OJFord »

b112 wrote: post #14
kumarvvr wrote: post #12

Its funny that western history distorts the history of the rest of the world. I hear western kids saying no one used to bathe in the ancient times. As an Indian, it was practically mandatory for each and every individual to take a bath at-least two times a day. Additionally the following customs were very prevalent till recent times. 1. Washing legs after coming home from outside. 2. Washing hands, face and legs befo…

[flagged]

Sesame oil & gram flour are fancy specialist relatively expensive ingredients here (gram flour a bit less so) - but they're grown in India, much more readily available, cheap, and (as another result) used more.

Hot water - I assume we're talking about a time period where it would've been heated over fire anywhere in the world.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#172

Post by Kiro »

yunohn wrote: post #87
phyzome wrote: post #3

Tangential question: Why do humans place emphasis on bathing, when most other animals don't seem to need to do it? (I think in the US we bathe more than we actually need to, but on the other hand I assume that the strong cross-cultural emphasis indicates that we do actually need to do it to some degree to stay healthy.) Maybe something about our unusual skin, and how we sweat to stay cool?

Did you actually ever research this viewpoint of “animals don’t bathe”? There are numerous replies proving it wrong, but I’m just curious how you seemingly just made it up and posted it.

Have you? They are still right - most other animals do not in fact bathe.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#173

Post by OJFord »

palmetieri2000 wrote: post #170
olibhel wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 to this, as an Indian. There's been a recent trend in my country where people, educated or not, have suddenly started finding unnecessary pride in our past - mostly centered around culture and one specific religion - Hinduism. This pride in the past, is helping our current government win elections in great majority. But our past, like every other country's past, is riddle with good and bad. While there are many ma…

I'm sorry but I don't see how the original comment did any of those things... it doesn't even make mention of any of the topics you have listed.

Well, not to take a side here, but it wouldn't, would it? The topics GP listed are (allegedly) 'continuing bad things from past', so why would someone with 'pride in their past' mention them?

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#174

Post by OJFord »

origin_path wrote: post #120
kumarvvr wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is blatantly false. A western trope resounding forever. Culturally India was a unified entity for millenia. As in, perhaps not having a unified government, but having the same cultural and literary background throughout the region. Ancient texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata talk about various places and practices across the length and breadth of India, which are remarkably similar and have a unified core. The g…

But surely by that definition Europe was also a unified entity in the medieval period.

I was going to say the same thing, but then I realised the initial claim was also about 'cultural unity'. So fair enough, and yes a lot of Europe (or all of it in a few sections) has been culturally unified since time immemorial.

It is a bit more complex though, certainly even today there's some very distinct 'culture' in different regions across India. But also shared themes and roots (e.g. Sanskrit & texts written in it, from which modern 'distinct' languages/beliefs/teachings have been derived) that kumarvr's far better placed to comment on than I am.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#176

Post by rendall »

nevershower wrote: post #62

I always had sensitive skin. I stopped using products in my hair, then I stopped showering my head, then I stopped showering altogether. Now I shower about once a month, washing only parts between the legs daily. I am the most smelly after I shower, that sour sweaty smell. Incidentally I read that this is some kind of fad in Hollywood.

> then I stopped showering altogether

After having had over the course of my life a small number of friends who stopped bathing for one reason or another, and my successfully talking them back into the habit, I will tell you what I told them:

With respect, I guarantee you, you stink to the people around you, and you cannot smell it yourself. Find a soap that does not irritate your skin and use it.

Also, launder your clothes. We humans sweat proteins, which when they decay, smell bad. If we sweat into our clothes, the proteins remain there and smell bad. The people around you unconsciously interpret this as illness, and will instinctively avoid you.

My friends who stopped cleaning (and were not ill in some way) almost universally were questioning societal standards after childhoods with controlling parents, as hippies or otherwise back-to-nature transcendentalists. Not sure if that's you, but if so, it checks.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#177

Post by Max-q »

nemothekid wrote: post #48
b112 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> I stopped reading here. But he's right; I don't know if I would call it colonialist, but you are applying your current perspective of how the poor lives to a culture extremely far removed from our own. I think our current situation of extremely disproportional wealth is a new phenomenon and we should be careful in blindly applying our current viewpoints backwards. India has always been an extremely fertile and arab…

> I think our current situation of extremely disproportional wealth is a new phenomenon

Isn’t it more an old phenomenon coming back? All over Europe you had the kings, which were very rich, under them a rich upper class with big houses and staff, tradesmen as the middle class and peasants doing all the work living in extreme poverty.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#178

Post by OJFord »

ralusek wrote: post #23
kumarvvr wrote: post #12

Its funny that western history distorts the history of the rest of the world. I hear western kids saying no one used to bathe in the ancient times. As an Indian, it was practically mandatory for each and every individual to take a bath at-least two times a day. Additionally the following customs were very prevalent till recent times. 1. Washing legs after coming home from outside. 2. Washing hands, face and legs befo…

Indians definitely still have certain specific hygiene practices that Westerners don't. Anybody who has worked at a large tech company will have taken note of the tooth brushes in the bathrooms. I found this to be very confusing at first, but then I noticed that a good amount of my Indian coworkers would brush their teeth after lunch.

This Britisher brushes his teeth after lunch too, on the advice of his Polish dentist. (And not because they were in poor health or anything, just as a matter of policy, where did 2x daily come from, 3x is better, especially if you're eating 3x.)

(Now, even if I don't eat breakfast or lunch, which is quite typical, certainly not both, they'll start to feel unclean and I'll brush them before eating or drinking in the evening.)

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#179

Post by simion314 »

raarts wrote: post #146
simion314 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Where are all the bath tubs found in excavations? At least here in Easter Europe we were still using wood "bath tubes" until recent times. Wood stuff does not preserve. Also there was no room for "bath", this bath-tubes are portable, so you get the out when you need them then store them away. Sorry for the bad quality of img, this are traditional fromRomania https://adroa.top/ant/?header=Covat%C4%83+de+lemn+foarte+v…

Wood stuff does not preserve? Other furniture does. And even then, they need iron bands to hold them together. Also, rain barrels.

This wood tubes do not use metal or nails, are made from just one piece of wood. When I was a child we had a big ree, one day my grandffather brought a family of wood workers , they cut the tree and madfe a ton of wood stuff from it, including big and small "tubes" , the small ones are used for backing or as containers, big and small spoons, other wood stuff I don't remember. But it was all curved, no nails or glue. This is possible because this tree is very soft and easy to work with, so you will not find 2000 years old wood tools in an ancient city or village ruins but you will find them in a few hundred years old homes in museums.

I was attempting to show that you should not demand archaeologists to find you bathrooms so you are convinced people were bathing. Peasant homes do not have a room dedicated for bath, and the bath tubes are wooden tools not stone or metal so you could find them if you know how to google but I can't tell you the english name for this.

Re: I assure you, medieval people bathed (2019)

#180

Post by drops »

walrus01 wrote: post #100

If you read translations of early medieval Arabic language travelers that visited Europe, they were almost all universally appalled by the state of hygiene and sewage/waste in major cities in general. Not saying people didn't bathe at all but it clearly didn't meet societally acceptable standards of an educated person from Cairo or Baghdad.

Could you recommend some of the mentioned translations?
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