Browsing all posts in "birth".
The Birth of Rabbits; Followed Closely by: The Birth of Skepticism
In 1724 a would-be midwife named John Maubry published “The Female Physician, containing the Diseases incident to that Sex, in Virgins, Wives, and Widows.” He apparently had little practical experience; much of the book is repetition of ancient wisdom and a direct steal from another source. Nonetheless, he describes being present at the birth, from [...]
Why Kids Believe Weird Things
Near the end of Michael Shermer’s “Why People Believe Weird Things,” a book well worth reading as we confront the issue of critical thinking skills and how they affect science education, I ran into one of the weirdest things of them all. If it weren’t backed up by tons of evidence, I might think Shermer [...]
The Curious Case of the Pig Farmer and his Wife
The infamous Caesarian Section, so named not because it saved the great politician from an early death (Julius Caesar was born by normal means) but because it was codified into law in the Roman Empire, was, sadly, the option of last resort through the dark and middle ages. It was common practice to attempt to [...]
The Great Obstetrician of Antiquity
Soranus, the Great Obstetrician of Antiquity, lived and worked in Roman territory in the second century CE. [Yes, his name is terribly unfortunate. Yet, let us remember that he and his contemporaries would have spoken Latin and Greek. So it may have been a very pleasing name. Let us hope so, for his patients' sakes.] [...]
The One True God v. The Goddess (NefHxMotherhood)
In contrast to the sexually permissive society that was ancient Babylon, we have the ancient Hebrews (who incidentally were conquered by Babylon in 586 BCE. Not that I’m making any value judgments here). While the ancient Babylonian women had rights and privileges, the predominant mood of the Hebrews was closer to misogyny. In the process [...]
Mummies and Mommies–NefHxMotherhood
Besides the medical papyri from ancient Egypt, we have temple decorations and mummies. From the temple reliefs, we know that the birth of future pharaohs was attended by the deities. Bes, the leonine ugly dwarf, danced and leapt around, to ward off evil spirits. T’wart (or Thoeris), represented by a pregnant hippo, was essentially the [...]
The Divine Mother and Child–NefHxMotherhood
The earliest written medical books we have date from the ancient kingdom of Egypt, 6000-1200 BCE. As you might well imagine, they are a little different from ours. For one thing, the Ebers papyrus, one of the oldest of the lot (1534 BCE) is a 68-foot scroll. Not the easiest reference volume. For another thing, [...]
The Couvade (NefHxMotherhood)
cooljinny, stock.xchng.com Exactly when man figured out that he had some involvement in this magic thing called “birth” is lost to the pages of history. By the time we get to written records (ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia), man had not only found his role, but he had completely co-opted it. Man, in his great wisdom, [...]
