Women’s Healthcare in Ancient Mesopotamia in the First Millennium BCE

Overview & Synopsis

Treatments for women from ancient Mesopotamia form the most extensive medical corpus on female health from antiquity beside the Hippocratic gynaecological works. This volume presents a comprehensive edition of cuneiform texts from the first millennium BCE concerned with women's health issues. The book, which includes numerous hitherto unpublished tablets, contains diagnostic and therapeutic texts, ranging from medical prescriptions to incantations, rituals and fertility tests. Selected texts from the second millennium BCE as well as scholarly commentaries on diagnostic or therapeutic texts from the first millennium BCE are also included in the volume. While the main thematic focus of Mesopotamian women’s healthcare lies on female fertility, pregnancy and birth, the corpus covers an impressive range of health problems spanning from haemorrhage to cosmetic treatments. Complemented by philological commentaries and an introduction that provides an overview of the textual history and a discussion of medical concepts and practices, this textbook forms an up-to-date survey for both specialists and non-specialist readers interested in ancient Mesopotamian healing traditions.