One would never think that the world's oldest flush toilet would be as old as 2,400 years, but that may be the case as archaeologists in China have discovered the remains of what they think is the oldest known flush toilet.
Archaeologists have put together the broken parts and a bent flush pipe of the 2,400-year-old lavatory, which were unearthed in the summer of 2022 by a research team among ancient palace ruins in the Yueyang archaeological site in the central city of Xi'an, according to Chinese state media, as reported by CNN.
The team described the finding as a "luxury object," offering insight into China's ruling elite at the time. It is believed that the toilet was located inside the palace with a pipe leading to an outdoor pit.
"The flush toilet is concrete proof of the importance the ancient Chinese attached to sanitation," Liu Rui, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and member of the excavation team, told state media and said that the toilet would have likely been reserved for high-ranking officials in ancient times.
Of course, the system was not automated, where water would be flushed with a button, but servants would likely have poured water into the toilet bowl every time it was used.
The history of the flush toilet is a murky one. Before the discovery, its invention was widely credited to English courtier John Harington who is claimed to have installed one for Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century. There are also reports of 4,000-year-old drainage systems in northwestern India that might have been connected with toilets.
