Ancient Egypt’s Mythical Female Doctor Merit Ptah Helped ‘Open Medicine and STEM to Women
Merit Ptah is frequently cited by feminist historians and popular history blogs as the first female physcian—however, many academics question the ancient Egyptian healer ever existed in the first place.
Jakub Kwiecinski, a medical historian at the University of Colorado, turned a detective eye on Merit Ptah to trace her backstory and find out where the myth came from. Writing in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Kwiecinski concludes Merit Ptah is a case of mistaken identity but while she might not be real in the historic sense, the myth helped “open medicine and STEM to women.”
“Merit Ptah was everywhere. In online posts about women in STEM, in computer games, in popular history books, there’s even a crater on Venus named after her,” said Kwiecinski in a statement. “And yet, with all these mentions, there was no proof that she really existed. It soon became clear that there had been no ancient Egyptian woman physician called Merit Ptah.” Read more.
Colossal statue of Ramesses II and his daughter Meritamen, usurped by Pinedjem I (High Priest of Amun at Thebes, the de facto ruler of Upper Egypt) and his daughter Maatkare Mutemhat.
Third Intermediate Period, 21st Dynasty, ca. 1070-1032 BC. Karnak Temple Complex.
On this day, 1 November 1910, anarchist and syndicalist workplace militants met in Barcelona to found the National Confederation of Labour union, the CNT, with the aim to “speed up the economic emancipation of the working class through the revolutionary expropriation of the bourgeoisie”. The CNT would grow to become the leading force in Spanish working class politics, playing a leading role various general strikes, uprisings and the Spanish civil war and revolution. Four decades of Franco failed to break it and it is still active today.
We have a number of great books, as well as other items in our online store telling the history of and celebrating the CNT. Check them out here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/cnthttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1251612165023931/?type=3
On this day, 16 October 1968, African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists in a Black power salute during the playing of the American national anthem as they were awarded gold and bronze medals at the Olympics in Mexico City. Smith would later clarify: “I wore a black glove to represent social power or Black power; I wore socks, not shoes, to represent poverty; I wore a black scarf around my neck to symbolise the lynching, the hangings that Black folks went through while building this country.” Following the protest, they were largely ostracised by the American sporting establishment. Time magazine on 25 October 1968 wrote: “‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ is the motto of the Olympic Games. ‘Angrier, nastier, uglier’ better describes the scene in Mexico City last week.” Sports journalist Brent Musburger declared “Smith and Carlos looked like a couple of black-skinned storm troopers”. When asked about comparing them to Nazis decades later, he stood by his criticism. Both Smith and Carlos were subject to abuse and they and their families received death threats. The Australian athlete Peter Norman, the other man on the podium, also showed solidarity with the protest wearing an ‘Olympic Project for Human Rights’ badge in protest of his government’s 'White Australia’ policy, and giving his gloves to Smith and Carlos. He too would also be reprimanded by his nation’s Olympic authorities and was not picked for the following Olympic games as a result.
“It is precisely because the force of circumstances tends continually to destroy equality that the force of legislation should always tend to its maintenance.”
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (via philosophybits)
