Crocodile Dung is (Probably) an Effective Contraceptive (NefHxMotherhood)

Before we leave ancient Egypt, a few other notes on gynecology. Much obsessed with both conception and contraception (what’s new?), the papyri contain many suggestions.

Milk was recommended as a vaginal douche both as an aphrodisiac, and as a contraceptive. It was possibly somewhat effective as the latter, as it would change the pH of the vagina. As the former, I’m thinking not so much.

Another favorite aphrodisiac was lettuce, said to be the favorite food of Min, the god of sexuality. Since wild lettuces from the region have small amounts of an opium-like substance, it might have at least made one’s partner more attractive.

The first known oral contraceptive comes from the Berlin Papyrus (1300 BCE) and consisted of a mixture of beer, celery, and oil, heated and drunk over four successive days.

By far my favorite contraceptive is a douche of crocodile dung and sour milk. There may have been magic at work, here, as the evil Seth was often represented as a crocodile.

I’m thinking it might have been quite effective. Just a guess. I don’t know of any double-blinded, randomized trials. (Can you just imagine trying to get test subjects for THAT one?)

Menstrual irregularities were treated with frankincense fumigation (yes, vaginally), or myrrh tampons. Excessive bleeding could be controlled by sitting on lees of sweet ale steeped in date juice.

Prolapsed uteri have vexed women down through the ages. Egyptian women solved the problem by drinking “the film of dampness which is found on the wood of ships” mixed with “yeast of fermented beer.” Yum.

The Egyptians described an “eating” of the uterus, which was diagnosed as smelling of roast meat (this has been cautiously translated as referring to cervical cancer, and, from a purely clinical point of view, is a fairly accurate description). The treatment was fumigation over anything that smelled of roast meat. Why is less certain.

Sagging breasts must have been just as disconcerting for the ancients as they are for us today. They were treated by smearing the breasts, belly and thighs with the blood of a young woman whose menses had just begun. Sympathetic magic in action.

Breast cancer is likely to have been uncommon, since it is a disease primarily of older women (read: 40s and up), and the ancient Egyptians ordinarily just didn’t live that long. Nonetheless, there is an incantation in the Ebers Papyrus that enjoins the breasts: “Do not make discharge; do not make any eating; do not make blood.”

It was during this time that the practice of “female circumcision” (clitoridectomy) came into vogue. [Male circumcision, too.] The purpose, of course, was to lessen the female sex drive for the purpose of ensuring “purity,” not just of the woman but also of her progeny. More drastic “pharonic circumcisions” (WHO Female Genital Mutilation Type III) not only seek to end sexual desire, but to prevent penetration: the labia and clitoris are removed, and the raw edges sewn together to leave only about a ¼” slit. The slit is extended by knife at the time of marriage, as much or as little as the husband desires. Many female mummies have been found to have undergone the procedure.

Shamefully, unlike the crocodile dung contraceptive, these operations are still in use today. Although Egypt banned the procedure in 2007 (!), over 95% of the female population is estimated to have undergone some form of genital mutilation.

[Enjoying our romp through history? Read the full series here: The Nefarious History of Motherhood.]

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