Period Myths in Ancient Egypt
- Eesha
- Apr 20, 2021
- 2 min read
by Eesha
Period myths are prevalent throughout history, and today we will learn about some from Ancient Egypt.
Please note: these sources refer to women specifically. We know that Ancient Egypt probably had other genders but we don't know how they may have gone about periods (in the cases that they did have them). That's why for this blog post we sometimes use gender-specific language and other times use non-gendered language. If we got something incorrect please contact projectfullstopmagicorange@gmail.com.
Source: https://www.historyisgaypodcast.com/notes/2018/3/18/episode-6-3-genders-in-ancient-egypt-its-more-likely-than-you-think
Photo by AussieActive on Unsplash
Though Earle Haas invented and patented the modern-day tampon, the Ancient Egyptians used the first version, papyrus fiber tampons. Despite this innovation, however, there were several harmful (to the menstruator) Ancient Eygptian myths relating to medicine. One medical myth relating to pain in the eyes and neck stated that this was due to material overflowing from the uterus to the eyes. The remedy was to expose the body to vapors of various substances (expose the whole body, especially the vulva, to frankincense and fresh oil vapor, and expose the eyes to oriole thigh vapor), and to make sure she eats fresh donkey liver. A follow-up to that discusses what to do when experiencing uterine bleeding, which gave a remedy of wrapping a combination of soil around the Nile mixed with Nile water and crushed in honey and galena (a form of lead) in fine linen. The next step is inserting this in a menstruators vagina for 4 days. Another myth dictates smearing menstrual blood on the breasts and thighs was a cure for those areas sagging. A third myth suggested a women’s family was endangered if she cooked for them, touched them, or even stayed in the same place as them while she was menstruating. The Egyptians also believed menstrual blood could cause danger and/or pollution. These last two myths are myths created either to protect a woman's social control (as well as her autonomy and influence) or to protect men’s status in society.
The next time you think modern-day myths are strange, remember these Ancient Egyptian myths!
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