Evidence of the first personal sized bath tub was found on the Isle of Crete in the great palace at Knossos, around 1700 BC . It revealed a number of bathrooms that were also supplied by an advanced plumbing system. Vase paintings suggest that the Greeks used showers as well.

The Greek vessels were used to hold water for rinsing, but were too small to accommodate a bather. A 5 foot long pedestal tub was found built from hardened pottery. The Minoans invented impressive technologies that provided water for this tub, including a system of interlocking terracotta pipes. This tub is the most likely forefather of the classic 19th century clawfoot.

The ceramic baths discovered by archaeologists were 2500 years old, and they were very similar to modern ones. One of the first bronze baths was discovered during excavations at Pompeii. At that time the baths were made of marble and terracotta.

Around 500 BC Roman citizens were encouraged to bathe daily in one of the many huge baths, or thermae public baths . Hot water was provided by furnaces and piped into the bath. The rooms were kept warm by smoke and hot air circulating under the floors and in the hollow walls.

Private bathing rooms were far more ornate and would resemble shallow swimming pools. The Romans used marble for the tubs, lead and bronze for pipes, and created a complex sewage system for sanitation purposes.

Until the second century, men and women bathed together in Rome. Then Emperor Hadrian ordered segregated bathing. In most cities outside Rome, men and women used the bathing facilities at different hours, but it was always considered immoral for a woman to bathe at night.

As the Empire waned and barbarian invaders destroyed the Roman aqueduct systems, most baths were shut down. But the Public Bath lived on in the Eastern Empire, and was eventually adopted by the Arabs, who liked vapour baths. The Turkish bath is a direct descendant of the Roman bath, via Constantinople.

Public baths were common in France as early as the 12th century, and were reputedly as notorious for their promiscuous activities as had been their Roman precursors. By the 17th century, no decent citizen would consider entering a public bath, and the Church frequently decried the excesses of the institution.

In Europe, the medicinal spring bath has been popular for centuries. During the 18th century, the English city of Bath-so named after an ancient Roman spa built there-became the most fashionable resort in all Europe. Like earlier baths, however, the resort at Bath eventually became associated with debauchery and the spread of disease.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, new devotees of cleanliness placed hip metal baths right in their bedrooms near the mantelpieces that allowed to nimble owner to take the water procedures promising health and longevity right after sleep. A sign of coming century was a cult of health and sports.

By the mid 1800’s England boosted cast iron baths in many of middle class dwelling. By WWI, reliable water heaters and built-in tubs put regular bathing within everyone’s reach. Today, the sensual and physical pleasures of bathing are so appealing, it’s essential to take time out to wallow in the tub and so improve the state of the mind, body and spirit.

Antique claw foot bathtubs have been known to be invented during the Victorian era in 1835 through to 1923. The first types were made with a cast iron base which was then coated with white porcelain.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the once popular clawfoot tub morphed into a built-in tub with a small apron front. This enclosed style afforded easier maintenance and, with the emergence of colored sanitary ware, more design options for the homeowner.

A bath is now a way to relax, not something you do before going to work in the morning. So you see, bathing in a bathtub is a ritual that has lasted the test of time and been preserved to be now, almost what it was years ago.