Birth in Ancient Egypt: Timing, Trauma, and Triumph? Evidence from the Dakhleh Oasis. (original) (raw)
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The medicine of the ancient Egyptians. 1: Surgery, gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics. Eugene Strouhal, Břetislav Vachala, Hana Vymazalová; translated by Kateřina Millerová (The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, 2014); pp. 228; $59.95; ISBN 978-977- 416-640-2.
Female figurines" are small statuettes representing women, most of the time naked and possibly accompanied by a child. Known since Predynastic times, they are found in houses, inside or in the vicinity of sacred spaces, or in graves (of men, women and children). Of course, many of them also come from secondary contexts, i.e. trash pits. They were long taken for "concubines of the deceased", for dolls, or for images of goddesses, until Geraldine Pinch, in her book Votive Offerings to Hathor, presented these objects as being linked to rites promoting fertility, and also defined a first typology. More recently, Elizabeth Waraksa proposed, in her thesis Female Figurines from the Mut Precinct, that the use of the figurines would in fact be much broader: it seems that they were used and broken ritually in contexts that go far beyond a supposedly female universe, including for instance medico-magical healing processes. IFAO keeps a very important collection of this type of statuettes, most of them being unpublished. It is about 650 fragments, most of them coming from Deir el-Medina. I am in charge of their publication, in the form of a catalogue (DFIFAO) and an analytical synthesis. Some of these female figurines respond to the types found in New Kingdom Theban ensembles (Medinet Habu, Temple of Mut), but many present very rare characteristics, or bear features that have attracted little attention: dressed figurines, kneeling or seated statuettes, pregnant women, various bodily marks (paintings, tattoos, scarification marks), etc. I propose to present these objects at the AUC's conference "Women in Ancient Egypt", paying particular attention to the practices and beliefs that surround them, and to the very specific iconography they show. Belonging to popular practices and folk art, some of the figurines kept at the IFAO are diametrically opposed to the female canons found in official art: they reveal different norms, and in so doing, reflect a different approach to the female body, which is well worth studying.
Lives of Women in Ancient Egypt [Master Thesis]
Markéta Svobodová - Sexual Passages in the Lives of Women in Ancient Egypt: Birth and Fertility of the Woman according to Ancient Egyptian Sources, Master Thesis, Charles University in Prague, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, 2016. The thesis seeks to explain the sexual passages of women related to fertility, such as menstruation, pregnancy and birth, in the ancient Egyptian world. The passages related to fertility have strong connotations with death in the Egyptian mythological context. The aim of the thesis is to understand this relationship, often metaphorically conveyed in iconography or in the netherworld literature. The thesis collects material from various sources, archeological, textual, iconographical, not only Egyptian, but also Greek and Roman. The methods used vary from cognitive linguistics and semiotic analysis to religious anthropology. Menstruation, pregnancy and birth in ancient Egypt are explained not only on the level of the understanding of the body of the Egyptians, but also in terms of what role they play in iconography and mythology. Furthermore, the relationship between birth and death is made with regards to fertility. The basic findings of this thesis consist of illustrating a dichotomy between the feminine nurturing principle of and masculine creative principle which appear in different contexts related to birth and death: in iconography, on the level of bodily fluids, or in mythological creation.
The history of nursing profession in ancient Egyptian society
Elshaimaa M. Abdelgawad, 2019
Many of historical textual and epigraphical sources consider medicine as a highly advanced profession in ancient Egypt with little mention of the role of nurses in assistance and supporting this advanced medical care. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the history of the profession of nursing in ancient Egypt, and describe the influence of societal trends on the development of nursing. This article discusses nursing as a health care profession in ancient Egyptian civilization. It explains nurses' social background, their working conditions, their professional functions as well as health and illness beliefs that influenced their professional practice. The current article used the historical research design to answer the pre-mentioned questions in the period dated from circa 3100 BCE to the end of the Greco-Roman period 332 BCE-395 CE. The researchers conducted an indepth review and seeking for information from experts in Egyptology, followed by gathering, drafting, reflecting on, revising, and recording the narrative of evidenced information.