Editing Bathing (section)

=== Ancient world ===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| width = 120
| image1 = A woman preparing to bathe. Gouache painting. Wellcome V0019991.jpg
| caption1 = A woman preparing to bathe
| image2 = Stamnos women bath Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2411.jpg
| caption2 = Three young women bathing. Side B from an [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] Attic [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] [[stamnos]]
| image3 = Terracotta kylix (drinking cup) MET 95815.jpg
| caption3 = Two women after a bath
}}

Bathing in Ancient China may be traced back to the [[Shang dynasty|Shang Dynasty]], 3000 years ago (1600–1046 BCE).{{Cn|date=September 2024|reason=Not supported by citation as the first, or earliest evidence of bathing in ancient China}} Archaeological findings from the [[Yinxu]] ruins show a cauldron to boil water, smaller cauldrons to draw out the water to be poured into a basin, skin scrapers to remove dirt and dead skin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://museum.sinica.edu.tw/en/exhibitions/83/?lang=en&item=83|title=The King Demands Hot Water – The 'National Treasures' and Washing Implements of the King of the Shang Dynasty|website=Museum of the Institute of History & Philology, Academia Sinica|access-date=2022-11-25|archive-date=2022-11-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125065521/https://museum.sinica.edu.tw/en/exhibitions/83/?lang=en&item=83|url-status=live}}</ref> 2300 year old lavish imperial bathrooms with exquisite tiles and a sewage system can be seen in Xi'an.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/archaeologists-discover-2-000-year-old-luxury-baths-in-china-117110601105_1.html|title=Archaeologists discover 2,000-year-old luxury baths in China|date=6 November 2017|website=Business Standard|access-date=25 November 2022|archive-date=25 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125071017/https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/archaeologists-discover-2-000-year-old-luxury-baths-in-china-117110601105_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=September 2024}} Bathing grew in importance in the Han Dynasty (202 BC–AD 220) where officials were allowed to take a day's leave for bathing at home every five days, and bathing became the reason for a [[bank holiday]] for the first time.{{Cn|date=September 2024}}

An accountable daily ritual of bathing can be traced to the [[Outline of ancient India|ancient India]]ns.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} They used elaborate practices for personal hygiene with three daily baths and washing. These are recorded in the works called ''[[Kalpa_(Vedanga)|grihya sutras]]'' which date back to 500 BCE and are in practice today in some communities. In Hinduism, “''Prataha Kaal''” (the onset of day) or “''Brahma Muhoortham''” begins with the 4 am “''snanam''” or bath, and was considered extremely auspicious in ancient times.{{Cn|date=September 2024}}
 
[[Ancient Greece]] utilized small bathtubs, wash basins, and foot baths for personal cleanliness. The earliest findings of baths date from the mid-2nd millennium BC in the palace complex at [[Knossos]], Crete, and the luxurious alabaster bathtubs excavated in [[Akrotiri (prehistoric city)|Akrotiri]], [[Santorini]]. A word for bathtub, {{transliteration|grc|asaminthos}} ({{lang|grc|ἀσάμινθος}}), occurs eleven times in Homer.  As a legitimate Mycenaean word (a-sa-mi-to) for a kind of vessel that could be found in any Mycenaean palace, this [[Linear B]] term derives from an Aegean suffix ''-inth-'' being appended to an Akkadian loan word with the root ''namsû'' ('washbowl', 'washing tub'). This luxurious item of the Mycenaean palace culture, therefore, was clearly borrowed from the Near East.<ref>Reece, Steve, "The Homeric Ἀσάμινθος: Stirring the Waters of the Mycenaean Bath," ''Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies'' 55.6 (2002) 703–708. [https://www.academia.edu/30641266/The_Homeric_Asaminthos_Stirring_the_Waters_of_the_Mycenaean_Bath The Homeric Asaminthos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231234003/https://www.academia.edu/30641266/The_Homeric_Asaminthos_Stirring_the_Waters_of_the_Mycenaean_Bath |date=2019-12-31 }}</ref>  Later Greeks established public baths and showers within gymnasiums for relaxation and personal hygiene. The word ''gymnasium'' (γυμνάσιον) comes from the Greek word ''gymnos'' (γυμνός), meaning "naked".

[[Ancient Rome]] developed a network of [[Roman aqueduct|aqueduct]]s to supply water to all large towns and population centers and had indoor plumbing, with pipes that terminated in homes and at public wells and fountains. The [[Ancient Roman bathing|Roman public baths]] were called [[thermae]]. The thermae were not simply baths, but important public works that provided facilities for many kinds of physical exercise and ablutions, with cold, warm, and hot baths, rooms for instruction and debate, and usually one Greek and one Latin library. They also represented an important moment of socialization and exchange between the members of the community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mirza |first=Shalra |date=2023-07-25 |title=Roman Baths: Ancient Hygiene, Healing, and Socialization {{!}} History Cooperative |url=https://historycooperative.org/roman-baths/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |language=en-US}}</ref> They were provided for the public by a benefactor, usually the Emperor. Other empires of the time did not show such an affinity for public works, but this Roman practice spread their culture to places where there may have been more resistance to foreign mores. Unusually for the time, the thermae were not class-stratified, being available to all for no charge or a small fee. With the [[Decline of the Roman Empire|fall of the Roman Empire]], the aqueduct system fell into disrepair and disuse. But even before that, during the Christianization of the Empire, changing ideas about public morals led the baths into disfavor.