Female Bodies and Female Practitioners: Gynaecology, Women's Bodies, and Expertise in the Ancient to Medieval Mediterranean and Middle East

The contributions in this volume explore the emergence, transfer, and transformations of theoretical and practical gynaecologic knowledge in ancient medical and other traditions, focusing on cultural practices and socio-religious norms that enabled and constrained the production and application of gynaecologic knowledge. They provide a comparative exploration of female bodies and medical expertise across geographically diverse but culturally entangled Ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Graeco-Roman, Persian, Byzantine, early Christian, Jewish-Talmudic, and Syriac cultures, highlighting similarities and differences in medical terminology, loanwords, theories, metaphors, and concepts. The volume aims to stimulate interdisciplinary and trans-generational exchange about the topic, drawing on a wide range of methodological and theoretical tools.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 533 pages
Publication date: 03 May 2024
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

The contributions gathered here delve into the evolution, transmission, and transformations of theoretical and practical gynaecologic knowledge across various ancient medical and cultural traditions. The authors explore the cultural practices and socio-religious norms that shaped the production and application of gynaecologic knowledge and skills, including concepts of the female body, ritual im/purity, and myth. Some studies focus on the role and function of female patients and medical specialists, such as female doctors, healers, midwives, or wet-nurses, as objects and subjects within ancient medical discourses. The interdisciplinary nature of the studies offers a valuable opportunity for a comparative exploration of female bodies and medical expertise across geographically diverse but culturally interconnected Ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Graeco-Roman, Persian, Byzantine, early Christian, Jewish-Talmudic, and Syriac cultures. This exploration reveals similarities and differences in various realms, such as the adoption of medical terminology, the development of loanwords/calques, and the transfer and appropriation of gynaecologic theories, metaphors, and concepts. Additionally, it delves into more structural questions about the discursive representation of such knowledge and its (con)textual incorporation. The volume aims to stimulate a fruitful interdisciplinary and trans-generational exchange about the topic, drawing on a wide range of methodological and theoretical tools, including philology, linguistics, narratology/close reading, literary and discursive analysis, material culture, socio-historical perspectives, gender studies, and cultural and religious history.

Weight: 784g
Dimension: 156 x 237 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783161622908