The role of women in ancient times varies from culture to culture. In some, they rode into battle beside the men. In others, they were expected to remain at home where they would bear their husbands children and keep the household in order. One culture where women were permitted and even encouraged to work outside the home was that of Ancient Egypt.
In the period known as the “Old Kingdom” in Ancient Egypt, from 2600-2100 BC, all professions were open to men and women, including the clergy, business, and medicine. In fact, records show that there were more than 100 prominent female physicians in Ancient Egypt, with Peseshet as their director. She was known as “lady overseer of the female physicians” – although it is not established that Lady Peseshet was a doctor herself and even if she was she was not the first known female physician. That title goes to someone who practiced medicine almost 100 years earlier: the world’s first known female doctor was Merit-Ptah (2700 BC).
Peseshet was a female physician who lived during the Fourth Dynasty (2613 BCE to 2494 BCE). Some historical records suggest that she may have been a physician and others that she may have been trained and employed as a midwife. Regardless of her training, she was given the title of “lady overseer of the female physicians”. This title is important because it shows that not only were a number of women working as doctors, but that they were also administrated and supervised by a woman as well. It was believed that she may have begun her medical training at a school for midwives that was located at Sais although it is unknown just how far her medical training progressed.
A third woman who was well known as a doctor in Ancient Egypt was Cleopatra (not to be confused with the former Queen and member of the Ptolemy dynasty). In Ancient Egypt, doctors tended to specialize in the treatment of certain diseases or parts of the body. Cleopatra was a doctor who worked in the twin fields of gynecology and obstetrics. In addition to working in the field, she also wrote extensively about her medical specialty and women’s health in general. Her works continued to be the focus of study for more than a thousand years.
Egyptian medicine was a unique mixture of magic and scientific fact. They were able to treat many diseases and injuries much more successfully than doctors could thousands of years later. They showed a need for cleanliness and a knowledge of anatomy and physiology that was very sophisticated for the time and yet, still believed in the need for divine blessings and magic charms.
As with mathematics and astronomy, medicine was well-developed in Ancient Egypt, with physicians specializing in various medical fields, including eye care and dentistry. Midwifery was also a practiced profession.
World’s most famous midwife
Trotula of Salerno (?-1097) was a physician, midwife, teacher, and author. Trotula‘s treatise on gynecology, De Passionibus Mulierum Curandorum (The Diseases of Women) was used in medical schools until the 16th century.
Her topics included the need for cleanliness, a balanced diet, and regular exercise, warned of the effects of emotional stress, and discussed birth control, problems of infertility, male infertility, sewing (and avoiding) tears suffered in childbirth, repositioning a baby during a breech birth, and the problems of sex and celibacy. She even told how a woman might pretend to be a virgin.
The final Curious © phrase:
“A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his client to plant vines”
(Frank Lloyd Wright)
