[Notes for a History of Hygiene taken from the Bible]

Abstract

Reading once more the Gospels, we found a discussion between Jesus and the Pharisee about the hand washing, this golden rule of medicine, and then, with the help of Thomas Mann, we began a search for other notes on hygiene in the Bible. For the return from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses established several rules for his people, some of them disguised as religious principles, concerning elimination of excreta, healthy and poisonous foods, isolation in case of contagious diseases (leprosy, gonorrhea), decontamination of clothes and houses, and many others that now seem to us ahead his time.