Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Toilet!? What the Bible Has To Say About Pooping…

The New York Times has a brief article on the recent findings of the possible latrines of what might have been the Qumran Community, or the Essenes, who are thought to have written/housed the Dead Sea Scrolls. You can find the article here.

According to the article, the Essene’s toilets were located some 1,000 yards outside of the camp. This made me think about the regulations given in Deuteronomy 23:12-14 about, well, should I say, “pooping.” Because God was dwelling in the midst of the Israelites {v.14}, they were to do their “business” outside of the camp, where all unclean things belonged.

Now, this raises several questions in my mind. We’ll begin with the humorous. The text says that they must have a trowel, or shovel for digging a hole and covering up their dung. Did each Israelite have their own “pooper scooper”? The text seems to imply that they had one in their toolbox {v.13}. Interesting…

On another note, if there was a designated place(s) outside the camp for urinating/deficating, and the text records that the numbers of the Israelites were in the high thousands, if not, million, how easy was it to access the toilet? It is estimated that there were some 600,000 men, so to include the women and children, that number would rise to over 3 million Israelites all vying for a toilet! And that’s not including the droves and droves of livestock!!

So, how difficult would it have been to just have to go to the bathroom? Based on this basic understanding of the complexities of going to the bathroom, and our experiances at concerts, festivals or anywhere there are large numbers of people waiting to use the john, perhaps the numbers of the Israelites were not as many as we think? Especially if they had to walk 1,000 feet outside of camp to use the latrine.

Now imagine your city, even if it is a city of 5,000 people. Going outside the city just to use the restroom, on foot, would be demanding. So, I pose this question: could it be that the numbers recorded in the Bible are not to be taken literally? Were there really over 3 million Israelites rescued from Pharaoh’s dominion by Yahweh? And before you label me a liberal or heretic, there is a conservative resolution to this conundrum.

Discuss…