Menstruation was a subject of little interest to the men who wrote our surviving Egyptian texts. We therefore have no understanding of how women perceived this important aspect of their femininity and very little idea of how they approached the practical aspects of sanitary protection. However, laundry lists recovered from Deir el-Medina include ‘bands of the behind’: sanitary towels made from a folded piece of linen fabric which were used, sent to the laundry and then re-used. We do have certain indications that either menstruating women or the menstrual blood itself were regarded as ritually unclean; similar taboos are found in many primitive societies where the mechanics and function of menstruation are not fully understood. Blood is often perceived as both frightening and dangerous, and the fact that women regularly bled for days on end must have appeared unnatural and somewhat disturbing to the male members of society who could not bleed without an obvious wound. The term ‘purification’ or ‘cleansing’ was used to describe a menstrual period just as it was used to describe the lochia following childbirth, and the Middle Kingdom Satire of the Trades deplores the lot of the unfortunate washerman who has to handle women’s garments stained with menstrual blood. Even coming into contact with a man whose female relations were bleeding could be considered undesirable, and at Deir el-Medina a labourer had a valid excuse to absent himself from work if either his wife or one of his daughters was having a period.
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One of the customs most zealously observed by the Egyptians is this, that they rear every child that is born, and circumcise the males and excise the females as is also customary among the Jews, who are also Egyptians in origin.
Strabo
During the Old and Middle Kingdoms Egyptian boys were routinely circumcised at between six and twelve years of age. A male circumcision scene, shown in disconcertingly graphic detail in the tomb of the Royal Architect Ankhmahor at Sakkara, gives some indication of the importance attached to this ceremony.1 The young boy is held tightly from behind while a Ka priest stands in front of him wielding a knife and ordering his assistant to ‘restrain him firmly and prevent him from fainting’. Herodotus remarks, rather disapprovingly, that this operation was performed for reasons of hygiene although the fact that it was conducted by a priest rather than a doctor suggests that it may have had more ritual than practical significance. The Egyptians themselves looked down on uncircumcised, and therefore uncivilized, foreigners. There is no direct evidence that circumcision or clitoridectomy was ever inflicted on girls and, even though societies rarely make reference to this intimate female rite of passage, the fact that no circumcised female mummy has been recovered tends to confirm its absence. Contrary to popular belief there is absolutely no proof that the drastic pharaonic excision, or Sudanese circumcision as it is known in modern Egypt, actually originated in pharaonic Egypt.2 It should, however, be remembered that those mummified bodies which have been examined belonged to upper-class women; whether or not the lower classes ever circumcised their daughters is unclear. Strabo, quoted above, certainly believed that they did, although he does not elaborate on his statement so we do not know whether he is referring to the removal of part or all of the external genitalia or to a less damaging token cut made in the clitoris. Nor does he indicate whether he was reporting a rumour or known fact.
Recipe for a tongue that is ill: bran, milk and goose grease are used to rinse the mouth.
Ebers Medical Papyrus
Oral hygiene did not play an obvious part in the daily toilette, although the Roman historian Pliny informs us that the Egyptians cleaned their teeth with a special toothpaste made from plant roots. In the absence of specific tooth brushes this dentifrice was applied by means of a chewed twig or stiff reed. For that extra feeling of confidence, women were specifically recommended to sweeten their breath by chewing little balls of myrrh, frankincense, rush-nut and cinnamon; advice presumably prompted by the high level of garlic, onion and radish consumption.
The unfortunate Egyptians were prone to a great deal of tooth disease as the fine desert sand which still seems to find its way into every corner of the Egyptian home became inadvertently included in their daily food and had a harsh abrasive effect on the teeth. Large and painful abscesses were very common and most Egyptians suffered from toothache at some time in their lives. The long-lived King Ramesses II, for example, died with a mouthful of badly worn teeth with exposed pulp chambers; these had clearly caused him a great deal of discomfort during his final years. In contrast, dental caries was far less of a problem than it is in modern Egypt as there was a shortage of sugary products; both refined sugar and sugar cane were unknown. It was the upper classes, the consumers of large amounts of date- and honey-sweetened cake, who were most likely to suffer from tooth decay. Loose teeth, however, seem to have been common throughout the entire population, and indeed almost half the dental references included in the medical papyri attempt to remedy the problem of missing teeth. Although there is some evidence for the construction of ingenious dental bridges using thin gold or silver wire and spare human teeth – presumably collected from the embalming house – the Egyptian dentists did not attempt to make a full set of false teeth.