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.