I recall and I am sure some of you will recall, being told by the wbts about how Jehovah gave the Jewish nation a strict set of rules as to how and where to build latrines for them to use and how this lent to giving the Jewish people the reputation of being a cleaner group than the other Nomads in the area.
They were to dig trenches to a strict depth and distance from the camp sites and cover the trenches as they filled and how pleasing it was to see that Jehovah made them safe from sickness etc.
In todays paper an article from the Los Angeles Times by Thomas H. Maugh, this very item is brought to light.
With a verry different direction as to its effects on the lives of those who lived in the manner they were told to.
"Toilet practices support theory that the dead sea scrolls were written by by a small Jewish sect known as the Essenes"
Archeologists have discovered the latrines used by the Essenes. The young male zealots who established their sect, chose a life of austerity and isolation but could not have foreseen the hardships created by their religiously imposed toilet practices.
They paid a high price for their holiness. In an effort to do what they thought was right. They were probably lowering their life expectancy and ruining their health, trying to do what they thought was right.
Two of the dead sea scrolls note that the latrines should be situated northwest of the settlement at a distance of 1000 to 3000 cubits and out of sight of the settlement. Mulling over this, it was noted that there is a natural bluff about 1000 yards northwest of Qumran. Unlike the surrounding area the soil there was soft.
Tests of the soil revealed that there were, preserved eggs and other remnants of, roundworms, tape worms, and pinworms. All human intestinal parasites, while the surrounding area had no parasites.
Had the waste been dumped on the surface of the ground, as is practiced by the Bedouins, the parasites would have been killed quickly by sunlite ( uv rays etc.)
The ritual cleansing made it all worse, as the Essenes had to pass through an immersion cistern before returning to the settlement . The water served as another breeding ground for the parasites.
The ritual cleansing is a total immersion, which means it gets into ones ears, eyes, and the mouth.
One can only imagine how sick EVERYONE must have been.
This is only a part of a much longer Article, that I tried to keep in context.
Outoftheorg OH POOP
Darn it, Now I see some one beat me to this already. Sorry about this.