National audience Reflections of historians and archaeologists on an issue largely ignored in the usual historiography: the issue of latrines, places of lavatories and other amenities. The problem of latrines and the disposal of physiological waste is at the centre of everyday life. Its impact on social organisation, particularly in urban areas, is far from negligible. In the Islamic world, it is one of the concerns of religious practice. The current escalation of the problem, driven by the rapid increase in the world population, makes it necessary to understand how it was posed and resolved in the past.