Toilet ritual

Ancient Roman texts mentioned a famous imperial doctor named Galen who served three emperors. The anatomy pioneer kept a record of his practice and medicinal preparations.

Cenker Atila, an archeologist at Turkey’s Sivas Cumhuriyet University, reveals one such medicine in a study of Roman glass bottles known as unguentaria.

Galen described human and animal feces as “treatments for conditions ranging from inflammation and infection to reproductive disorders, “ CNN reports, citing the study published in the Journal of Archeological Science: Reports on 19 January.

A proof of the potion was brownish flakes Atila found inside a 2nd century medicine bottle excavated in the ancient city of Pergamon. The flakes contained “human feces, a high concentration of thyme and olive oil,” Atila said in the study, according to CNN.

Thyme was used for its antibacterial properties and to suppress the odor of the feces, he explained.

Meanwhile, the murder of a concubine during China’s Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD) inspired a legend that turned her into a deity still revered by some believers in China today.

Zigu is remembered through a ritual done every Lantern Festival, which is celebrated every 15th day of the first month in the Lunar Calendar, or last 12 February in the Western calendar.

In the old custom of welcoming Zigu in the house, people create life-size effigies of the deity from straw and cloth scraps, or prepare winnowing baskets, brooms or chairs, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports.

The welcoming props are set up beside latrines, pigpens, or kitchens, places where it was believed she was killed by the wife of the emperor.

In a photo of one Zigu ritual, a food offering and lighted incense were placed on a chair inside the bathroom, facing the toilet bowl. After all, she was deified by the Emperor of Heaven as the Toilet Goddess after her tragic death, according to SCMP.