Motherhood and Early Childhood in Ancient Egypt

Culture, Religion, and Medicine

By: Amandine Marshall, Salima Ikram (Foreword by), Colin Clement (Translator)

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Hardcover | 22 January 2024

At a Glance

Hardcover
232 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.93

Hardcover

$149.50

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A richly nuanced analysis of how ancient Egyptian society regarded and dealt with pregnancy, mothers, birth, and children

In ancient Egypt, a woman's primary role was that of mother, and as such she ensured her place within both her household and her community. And so, gods, doctor-magicians, as well as ghosts were all called upon to help the woman become pregnant.

Pregnancy was not without risks, and the many tests, prescriptions, and spells that have survived to this day help us to understand obstetrics as it was practiced in those distant times. Once the woman had eluded the ill will of Seth-who was held responsible for miscarriages-and had reached her term, she was faced with the much awaited and yet also feared moment of birth. The successful delivery of a child into the world was seen as a gift of the gods, but it did not mean that the parent's worries were over. Indeed, it has been estimated that a third of all children did not reach the age of five years despite the combined efforts of parents and doctor-magicians to protect them.

Amandine Marshall draws upon a wealth of sources, including texts, images, iconography, artefacts, and children's bodies themselves, as well as medicine, anthropology, and ethnography, to examine these issues and more, and in doing so sheds unprecedented light on the experience of maternity and early childhood in ancient Egypt.

Industry Reviews

"Amandine Marshall is one of the few Egyptologists who has succeeded in combining the requirements of academic scientific research with the ability to communicate with the general public. Motherhood and Early Childhood in Ancient Egypt is a rich study of two of the most important components of the family, mother and child, an abiding concern for Egyptians from ancient times to the present day. Marshall skillfully explores perceptions of motherhood and childhood, the means of child education, and the spiritual and physical protection afforded to newborns and young children in ancient Egypt."-El-Sayed Mahfouz, Kuwait University

"This work by Amandine Marshall is an extremely welcome addition to the Egyptological literature, as it fills a significant lacuna in our understanding of the crucial moment of coming into existence of an ancient Egyptian. . . . Marshall masterfully uses every available strand of evidence, encompassing texts, images, iconography, artifacts, children's bodies themselves, medicine, anthropology, and ethnography to weave together a tapestry illustrating the birth and childhood of an ancient Egyptian."-Salima Ikram, from the foreword

PRAISE FOR CHILDHOOD IN ANCIENT EGYPT:

"She wields sources ably."-Kara Cooney, author of When Women Ruled the World

"Meticulous research, and at the same time highly readable text."-Miroslav Barta, author of Analyzing Collapse

"A major contribution."-Veronique Dasen author of Children, Memory, and Family Identity In Roman Culture

"A masterpiece of archaeological scholarship"-Midwest Book Review

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