The Physical Activity of Parturition in Ancient Egypt: Textual and Epigraphical Sources
The Physical Activity of Parturition in Ancient Egypt: Textual and Epigraphical Sources
The Physical Activity of Parturition in Ancient Egypt: Textual and Epigraphical Sources
Dynamis
[0211-9536] 2014; 34 (2): 317-335
http://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S0211-95362014000200003
1.
Introduction
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Dynamis 2014; 34 (2): 317-335
are medical and magical or rather medical-magical papyri 1. The medicalmagical manuscripts contain spells, incantations, remedies and prescriptions
for womens and childrens diseases mainly of the womb, the vulva, the
bladder and the stomach for the woman in labour, to accelerate the delivery
or to protect the unborn child and the parturient as well as prognoses about
fertility, contraception and delivery. In general, the focus of these texts lies
on the health and the protection of the prenatal, perinatal and postnatal
woman and the unborn foetus, the newborn child or the infant. Remarkably,
the medical texts do not contain any description of the parturition itself
and as well there are no magical incantations and spells which have to be
recited at the moment of delivery. The gynaecological texts do not deal
with parturition, but only with the problems before and afterwards. It is
astonishing that this fundamental activity is not being treated at any length
in these texts since there is even a hieroglyph of a woman giving birth: .
On the basis of some literary, astronomical and mythological texts, however,
we learn in more detail about the biological act of childbirth and also
miscarriage and premature birth in Ancient Egypt. Although these sources
contain numerous analogies and explain a divine birth, it is remarkable how
many details they provide. Besides the textual sources, the decoration of
temple walls and mammisis 2 as well as the illustration on one single birth
brick provide an insight into the moment of delivery.
1. There was no separation of medicine and magic in the Egyptian belief. With a separation in
medical and magical texts I want to accentuate the key aspect of the text. In a medical text
no apparent magical actions are performed or drugs with magical connotation are applied.
In the opposite sense magical texts are spells or charms without explicit medication. On
the topic: Ritner, Robert K. The mechanics of ancient Egyptian magical practice. Chicago:
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago; 1993; Quack, Joachim F. Rezension zu
Westendorf Handbuch der altgyptischen Medizin. Orientalische Literaturzeitung. 1999;
94: 455-462; Schneider, Thomas. Die Waffe der Analogie. Altgyptische Magie als System. In:
Gloy, Karen; Bachmann, Manuel, eds. Das Analogiedenken. Vorste in ein neues Gebiet der
Rationalittstheorie. Freiburg: Alber; 2000, p. 37-85; Fischer-Elfert, Hans-Werner. Altgyptische
Zaubersprche. Stuttgart: Reclam; 2005, p. 9-32. See also for Mesopotamian texts: Geller,
Markham J. Ancient Babylonian Medicine. Theory and Practice. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell; 2010,
p. 161-167.
2. An Egyptological term for a birth house inside a temple complex where the birth of the divine
child was celebrated. On the term: Daumas, Franois. Les mammisis des temples gyptiens.
Paris: Les Belles Lettres; 1958, p. 15-27; Kockelmann, Holger. Mammisi (Birth House). In:
Wendrich, Willeke, ed. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Los Angeles; 2011. Available from:
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8xj4k0ww [accessed 30 Nov 2012].
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
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2.
Sources
The initial text for the research is from papyrus Westcar (around 1600 BC),
which comprises five stories 3. The fifth story is a prophecy of the birth of
three kings. The description of the birth-scene is as follows (col. IX.21-X.13):
One of these days it happened that Reddedet took sick and it was with
difficulty that she gave birth. The Majesty of Ra (=the sun-god) (...) said to
Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heket, and Khnum: May you proceed that you
may deliver Reddedet of the three children who are in her womb (...) These
goddesses proceed, and they transformed themselves into musicians, with
Khnum accompanying them carrying the pack. When they reached the house
of Rawosre, they found him standing with his apron untied (...) he said to
them: My ladies, see, there is a woman in labor, and her bearing is difficult.
They said to him: Let [us] see her, for we are knowledgeable about childbirth
(...) Then they locked the room on her and on themselves. Isis placed herself
in front of her, Nephthys behind her, and Heket hastened the childbirth. Isis
then said: Do not be strong in her womb in this your name of Wosref. This
child slipped forth upon her hands as a child one cubit long (...) They washed
him after his umbilical cord had been cut, and he was placed upon a cushion
on bricks. Then Meskhenet approached him, and she said: A king who will
exercise the kingship in this entire land! 4
3. Berlin, gyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, inv.-no. P. 3033. For the edition of the
manuscript see: Blackmann, Aylward M. The Story of King Kheops and the magicans. Reading:
JV Books; 1988; Lepper, Verena. Untersuchungen zu pWestcar. Eine philologische und
literaturwissenschaftliche (Neu-) Analyse. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; 2008. On the problematic
of the dating of the text: Burkhard, Gnther; Thissen, Heinz J. Einfhrung in die Altgyptische
Literaturgeschichte. Altes und Mittleres Reich. Mnster: Lit; 2003, p. 178-180.
4. Translation after: Simpson, William Kelly. King Cheops and the magicians. In: Simpson,
William Kelly, ed. The literature of ancient Egypt. An anthology of stories, instructions, stelae,
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In this tale we are told three important things, on which I will focus
in more detail: 1. the position of the divine midwives; 2. the acceleration
of the childbirth; 3. the management of the newborn.
autobiographies and poetry. New Haven: Yale University Press; 2003, p. 21-22. The description
of the birth is the same for the two other kings.
5. Brunner, Helmut. Die Geburt des Gottknigs. Studien zur berlieferung eines altgyptischen
Mythos. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; 1986. For the evidence of the birth myth in the Middle
and maybe the Old Kingdom see: Oppenheim, Adela. The early life of Pharaoh: Divine birth
and adolescence scenes in the causeway of Senwostret III at Dahshur. In: Brta, Miroslav;
Coppens, Filip; Krejk, Jaromr, eds. Abusir and Saqqara in the year 2010/1, Prague: Charles
University in Prague; 2011, p. 171-188.
6. Daumas, Franois. Les mammisis de Dendara. Cairo: LInstitut Franais dArcheologie Orientale;
1959.
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
Dynamis 2014; 34 (2): 317-335
Figure 2. Birth-scene in the mammisi at Dendara. Drawing after: Daumas, n. 6, pl. LIX.
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7. Published by: Wegner, Josef. A decorated birth-brick from South Abydos. In: Silverman, David;
Simpson, William Kelly; Wegner, Josef, eds. Archaism and innovation. Studies in the Culture
of Middle Kingdom Egypt. New Haven: Yale University Press; 2009, p. 447-496.
8. Wegner, n. 7, p. 451, fig. 3-4.
9. Arnold, Dieter. Zum Geburtshaus von Armant. In: Guksch, Heike; Polz, Daniel, eds. Stationen.
Beitrge zur Kulturgeschichte gyptens. Mainz: Phillip von Zabern; 1998, p. 427-432; Ray,
John. Cleopatra in the temples of upper Egypt: The evidence of Dendera and Armant. In:
Walker, Susan; Ashton, Sally-Ann, eds. Cleopatra reassessed. The British Museum Occasional
Paper No. 103. London: British Museum; 2003, p. 9-11. Budde, Dagmar. Harpare-pa-chered.
Ein gyptisches Gtterkind im Theben der Sptzeit und griechisch-rmischen Epoche. In:
Budde, Dagmar; Sandri, Sandra; Verhoeven, Ursula, eds. Kindgtter im gypten der griechischrmischen Zeit. Leuven: Peeters; 2003, p. 47-50.
10. Neugebauer, Otto; Parker, Richard A. Egyptian astronomical texts I. The early decans. London:
Lund Humphries; 1960, p. 36-87; pl. 30-33, 44-54; von Lieven, Alexandra. Grundriss des Laufes
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
Dynamis 2014; 34 (2): 317-335
Figure 3. Birth-scene in the temple at Armant. Drawing after: Lepsius, Carl R. Denkmler aus
gypten und thiopien. Band IX. Abteilung IV; Berlin: Nicolaische Buchhandlung; 1849-1859; Pl. 60a.
nine documents of the text from the 13th century BC till the 2nd century
AD In the earliest version on the ceiling of the sarcophagus-chamber at
the temple Seti I at Abydos (the Osireion) it is written (col. 42):
Then Isis and Nephthys stretched forth their hands towards Horus
that they might receive him when Isis gave birth to him and he came forth
from her womb 11.
The goddess Isis appears in a double role as mother of the child Horus
and midwife together with her sister Nephthys. Isis and Nephthys in this
astronomical context are probably acting as a kind of celestial midwives,
who aid the moon or sun to rise in terms of a delivery 12. For that purpose
a passage from a hymn to the sun-god is of interest (text II 2, 14): Isis
and Nephthys lift you up when you come forth from the thighs of your
mother Nut 13.
der Sterne. Das sogenannte Nutbuch. CNI Publications 31. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum
Press; 2007.
11. Translation: De Buck, Adrian. The dramatic text. In: Frankfort, Henri. The Cenotaph of Seti I at
Abydos. London: Offices of the Egypt Exploration Society; 1933, p. 86. See also: von Lieven,
n. 10, p. 110 (x+98).
12. von Lieven, n. 10, p. 195.
13. Translation after: Assmann, Jan. Liturgische Lieder an den Sonnengott. Berlin: Hessling; 1969,
p. 188.
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Figure 4. Decoration on the ceiling of the tomb of Ramesses VI. Drawing after: Piankoff, n. 14, fig. 130.
14. Piankoff, Alexandre. The tomb of Ramesses VI. New York: Pantheon Books; 1954, p. 389-407; fig.
130; pl. 187; Mller-Roth, Marcus. Das Buch vom Tage. Fribourg: Academic Press; 2008.
15. For the interpretation of that scene: Quack, Joachim F. Review of Dorman, Faces in Clay. Zeitschrift
der Deutschen Morgenlndischen Gesellschaft. 2005; 155: 611; Mller-Roth, n. 14, p. 467.
16. Mller-Roth, n. 14, p. 70-77; 465-470.
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
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17. Translation after: von Lieven, n. 10, p. 51-54. Furthermore: Neugebauer; Parker, n. 10, p. 48-49, 81.
18. von Lieven, n. 10, p. 133.
19. Text edited by Meeks, Dimitri. Mythes et lgendes du Delta dapres le papyrus Brooklyn
47.218.84; Cairo: Inst. Franais dArchologie Orientale; 2006. German translation: Feder,
Frank. Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae. Available from http://aaew.bbaw.de/tla/ [updated 31
Oct 2012; accessed 30 Nov 2012].
20. Reading Hauron following Quack, Joachim F. Review of Meeks, Mythes et Lgendes du Delta
dapres le papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.84. Orientalia. 2008; 77: 109. Meeks, n. 19, p. 22 and Feder,
n. 19 read Houmehen.
21. Translation after: Meeks, n. 19, p. 22. Translation in brackets after: Feder, n. 19. See also
Jrgensen, Jens. Myths, menarche and the return of the Goddess. In: Nyord, Rune; Ryholt,
Kim, eds. Lotus and Laurel: Studies on Egyptian language and religion in honour of Paul John
Frandsen. CNI Publications 39. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press; in press. Jorgensen,
Jens. Egyptian Mythological Manuals. Mythological structures and interpretative techniques
in the tebtunis Mythological manual, the Manual of the Delta and related texts; unpubl.
Dissertation: Copenhagen; 2013; 134-139. I want to thank Jens Jorgensen for sending me
his article before publishing and his yet unpublished dissertation script. I am also gratful for
the opportunity to discuss the material with him.
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22. Meeks, n. 19, p. 108 (com. 316). For a semantic analysis of the word: Jrgensen, n. 21.
23. Feder, n. 19.
24. Translation after: Meeks, n. 19, p. 24. Translation in brackets after: Feder, n. 18. See also:
Jrgensen, n. 21.
25. Meeks, n. 19, p. 107 (com. 315).
26. Translation: Edwards, Iorwerth E. Hieratic papyri in the British Museum Ser. 4. Oracular Amuletic
decrees of the late new kingdom. London: British Museum Press; 1960, p. 66, pl. XXIV.
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
Dynamis 2014; 34 (2): 317-335
To return to the myth of Bubastis, the not fully formed baboon is not
only an image of the prematurely born foetus. Furthermore, the baboon
a manifestation of the god Thoth as is the black Ibis is a term for
the new moon 31. Therefore, we have again the influence of a biological
birth-metaphor on an astronomical phenomenon. In the passages of the
astronomical handbook (Book of Nut) as well as of the mythological
handbook (myths of the Delta) the birth of the sun and the moon, or
rather the associated gods, is described in quite realistic biological terms.
The physical activity of parturition becomes apparent.
27.
28.
29.
30.
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the rope of his placenta, with a knife of reed 33. It became (?) [...] [sn]ake in
a moment of 170 cubits 34.
33. The use of reed to cut the umbilical cord is documented in babylonian and assyrian sources;
see Volk, Konrad. Vom Dunkel in die Helligkeit. Schwangerschaft, Geburt und frhe Kindheit in
Babylonien and Assyrien. In: Dasen, Vronique, ed. Naissance et petite enfance dans lAntiquit.
Actes du colloque de Fribourg, 28 novembre-1er dcembre 2001. Fribourg: Academic Press;
2004, p. 85-86.
34. Translation after: Quack, n. 32.
35. Quack, n. 32.
36. von Deines, Hilde. Mutter der Menschen. Mitteilungen des Instituts fr Orientforschung. 1954;
4: 27-39
37. However, the practice of bricks at the birth is documented for Mesopotamia: Wegner, n. 7, p. 472;
475-477. On the textual sources for the use in Ancient Egypt, see Roth, Ann Macy; Roehrig,
Catharine H. Magical Bricks and the Bricks of Birth, In: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.
2002; 88: p. 129-139.
38. Stele Turin 50058: Tosi, Mario; Roccati, Alessandro. Stele e altre epigrafi di Deir el Medina. Turin:
Pozzo; 1972, p. 94-96. Translation after: Adrom, Faried. Der Gipfel der Frmmigkeit. Soziale
und funktionale berlegungen zu Kultstelen am Beispiel der Stele Turin 50058 des Nfr-obw.
Studien zur Altgyptischen Kultur. 2005; 33: 22.
39. Wegner, n. 7, p. 472; 477-478; Roth; Roehrig, n. 37, p. 131-132.
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
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that the term jfd has to be translated as four rather than cushion 40.
The use of four bricks associated with four goddesses is known in textual
sources of the Graeco-Roman period 41. The handbook of materia sacra Berlin
7809/10+Louvre AF 11112 (Roman period) contains on fragment C a list of
goddesses connected with terms of birth and destiny 42. The Egyptian term
for brick mshn.t 43 is associated with four goddesses (frag. C, col. II, 5-7):
mshn.t: that is the brick on which one gives birth. Isis is it. mshn.t wr.t: Tefnut.
o#.t: Nut. mshn.t nfr.t: Isis. mshn.t mnh.t: Nephthys... 44
.
mshn.t
Following the assumption of four bricks, one could imagine the use
of the bricks as shown in a drawing of piled birth bricks in modern Persia
(see figure 5) 45.
Figure 5. Use of bricks for childbirth in modern Persia. Drawing after: Engelmann, George J. Labor
Among Primitive Peoples. St. Louis: J.H. Chamber&Co.; 1884; p. 77.
40. For the discussion of the term: Staehelin, Elisabeth. Bindung und Entbindung. Erwgungen zu
Papyrus Westcar 10, 2. Zeitschrift fr gyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde. 1970; 96: 130.
41. Derchain-Urtel, Maria-Theresia. Synkretismus in gyptischer Ikonographie. Die Gttin Tjenenet.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; 1979, p. 23-34; Raven, Maarten. Egyptian Concepts on the Orientation
of Human Body. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 2005, 91: 50-52.
42. Text edited by Osing, Jrgen. Hieratische Papyri aus Tebtunis I. CNI Publications 17. Copenhagen:
Museum Tusculanum Press; 1998, p. 276-296, pl. 29-30.
43. On the term: Wegner, n. 7, p. 471-480 with further references.
44. Translation after: Osing, n. 42, p. 285.
45. Wegner, n. 7, p. 476-477, fig. 14.
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After the use of the bricks for the delivery they could be utilised as a
support for the newborn on whom further magical and medical rites are
performed, e.g. the clean separation of the umbilical cord. Like each activity
before, during and after the delivery, this act needs magical protection, because
the physical separation of mother and child by cutting the umbilical cord is
an important step and perhaps dangerous in the Egyptian comprehension.
Wegner suggests based on textual and archaeological sources a model
of the physical practices associated with childbirth and the use of bricks 46:
At first the bricks have to be ritually prepared before they are used during
the delivery, where the parturient stands upon the bricks, supported by
two midwives, on both sides a Hathor-headed birth standard for magical
protection, while a third woman protects the area of birth with a so-called
magical wand. After the delivery the bricks are used for the post-partum
care and the protection of the new-born 47.
Besides the sources which mention birth bricks we have to consider
texts in which the position of the parturient is described differently. One
relevant text is the yet unpublished papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.2 (7th century
BC) a magical-medical papyrus with remedies, incantations and spells for the
health and protection of mother and child before as well as after delivery 48.
Two spells for the protection of the bedchamber of the parturient in the
birth-house (mammisi) are of concern. The first one (x+IV.7-8):
Spell for the protection of the bedchamber (h.nk.t) 49 of the parturient:
NN born of NN lies (sd-r) on a mat of reeds another saying: a mat of alfa-
The physical activity of parturition in ancient Egypt: textual and epigraphical sources
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grass while Isis is at her womb, Nephthys is behind her, Hathor is beneath her
head, Renenoutet is beneath her legs and Ipetweret makes her protection 50.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
s#-h.nk.t protection of the bedchamber see with further references: Pries, Andreas H. Das
nchtliche Stundenritual zum Schutz des Knigs und verwandte Kompositionen. Der Papyrus
Kairo 58027 und die Textvarianten in den Geburtshusern von Dendara und Edfu. Studien
zur Archologie und Geschichte Altgyptens; 2009; 27: 98-99.
Translation after: Guermeur, n. 48, in preparation.
Ipetweret is the goddess of fertility and childbirth and the image of her is a magical protection
for the parturient.
#t- .t is a term for bed or bier (Wrterbuch der gyptischen Sprache Vol. I, p. 23.11-12). The
use in the context of childbirth is to emphasize since the root of the word is #t- i to bring
up (a child) or to rear (a child). The noun #t- .yt nurse; attendant derives also from the
verb #t- i. Therefore the term #t- .t perhaps describes a special delivery table.
Translation after: Guermeur, n. 48, in preparation.
Wegner, n. 7, p. 475-477.
Wegner, n. 7, p. 458.
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active or rather physical use. The decoration of the birth brick is important
for this aspect. The scenes on the edges of the brick consist of figures in
human and animal form with apotropaic functions 56. The scene on the
main side 57 displays a seated woman with a child in her arms, surrounded
by two women, one standing behind her and another kneeling in front
of her. The scene is framed by two wooden standards with a cow-head 58.
According to Wegner the decoration should be understood to constitute a
two-dimensional visual spell which invokes the presence of Hathor at the
event of childbirth 59. The woman on the throne who is the parturient and
at the same time the young mother is identified with the goddess Hathor.
The two Hathor-headed tree emblems symbolise the horizon. Therefore the
child is once more identified with the sun god Ra who rises on the horizon.
The human birth equates with the birth of the sun: the mother=Hathor
squats between the birth bricks=horizon=emblems and gives birth to the
child=sun=Ra 60. The visual spell may have been accompanied by further
magical spells and invocations during delivery, e.g. spells to accelerate the
childbirth.
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It is significant that the spell begins with the invocation of the placenta
instead of the child. The birth of the child and the delivery of the placenta
as after-birth seem to be the same activity. The childbirth is not finished
until the delivery of the after-birth. On the other hand, I wonder if the
spell may describe the after-birth contractions during the expulsion of the
placenta. The expulsion of the placenta is the same activity as the delivery
of the child and therefore also a birth. The dwarf-amulet of clay has the
power to ease pain, no matter if the woman is delivering her child or giving
birth to the placenta. The chronological order of the delivery of the child
and afterwards the birth of the placenta is obvious in the already quoted
mythological text of papyrus Berlin P. 15765a (l. 1-2):
as to this noble god when he was delivered upon his birth brick, his placenta
came down and was put in the river (...) after his umbilical cord was cut off,
the rope of his placenta, with a knife of reed 63.
Another spell from the papyrus Leiden I 348 is for the acceleration of
the birth for a woman who is overdue and is in great pain. The magician
threatens the gods with natural disasters if they do not hurry to deliver the
patient, who is identified with the goddess Isis (spell 34, vs. XI.4):
Isis is suffering from her backpart being pregnant but her month(s)
have been completed, according to the (set) number in pregnancy with
her son, Horus 64.
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nearing her time. I made the calling one stop weeping the woman had
shouted to the man for a dwarf-statue of clay (...) that she may cause to give
birth the one who is to give birth 65.
3.
Conclusion
To sum up, the textual and epigraphical sources never actually describe or
depict a human birth. The royal birth described in papyrus Westcar and on
the temple walls is always related to a divine birth, on the one hand by the
identification of the mother with the goddesses Isis or Hathor, and on the
other hand by the divine midwives. But in most of the sources the biological
birth concept is connected to astronomical and cosmographical concepts.
That conclusion is not unknown and an established motif in hymns to the
sun since the 16th century BC 67 The purpose of the illustration of the royal
birth is the legitimization of the ruler. Therefore the realistic display is
reserved and limited to what is necessary. In the mythological narrations on
the contrary the divine birth is described realistically in biological terms as
a human birth. Following Stricker, the macrocosmos sun rise and divine
birth is compared with the microcosmos childbirth in mythological and
astronomical handbooks 68. In those scientific manuscripts 69 childbirth is
described in biological terms.
But why is the moment of parturition and physical activities linked to
this never mentioned in medical texts, which would be considered to be
scientific? A common explanation for a cultural scientist would be that it
was taboo to speak of blood, amniotic fluid, embryonic connective tissue
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
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or cutting off the umbilical cord and delivering the afterbirth in a nonmythological context. But on the other hand, there are medical remedies for
a prolapsed uterus or vaginal abscesses and magical spells against bleedings
and miscarriages. Therefore, in my opinion, we should not assume a taboo.
Rather, could it be possible that the Egyptians thought it would not be
necessary to describe the physical act of childbirth in medical texts, since
childbirth was not considered a disease for which a physician or magician
was required. It is more likely that midwives accomplished the childbirth and
they received the necessary knowledge by oral tradition. This is the reason
why in the sources no god or male figure is present at the birth who could
be interpreted as a divine physician or magician. One significance of this is
the description of the god Khnum in the fifth story on papyrus Westcar as
a luggage porter for the goddesses 70. Only goddesses and divine midwives
are present to help the woman in labour and to care for the newborn. Thus,
childbirth is not a matter of healing it is a matter of helping.
70. I would like to thank Friedhelm Hoffmann (Mnchen) for that note.
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