Hygienic Conditions and Sanitation in Madīnat Qurṭuba during the 10th Century

Abstract

The sanitation of dwellings, streets, souks, bath houses and mosques, along with the management of industrial waste, were seriously taken into account in the madina of al-Andalus, since maintaining good health and improving the welfare of the community interested both authorities and individuals. Thus, urban settlements were equipped with suitable structures to provide minimum hygienic conditions. In this sense, the archaeological excavations carried out in last decades in Cordoba offer an exceptional framework to know closely some of these structures and the society who created them. In the following work we will present the most significant examples, especially those that belonged to the western suburbs of the caliphal Cordoba.