Born: 2700 BC (circa), Egypt
Died: 2659 BC (circa)
Country most active: Egypt
Also known as: NA
Morgan Gilbert on ancient women physicians transcript
This biography was originally published in the World History Encyclopedia and was written by Joshua J. Mark. It is shared in line with the Encyclopedia’s policies under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Merit-Ptah is not only the first female doctor known by name but the first woman mentioned in the study of science.
The first female physician in Egyptian history, as noted above, is Merit-Ptah (‘Beloved of Ptah’) who lived c. 2700 BCE toward the end of the Early Dynastic Period. She was not the only woman of note from this time as the Queen Merneith (c. 2900 BCE) definitely ruled as regent and possibly on her own. Merit-Ptah is not only the first female doctor known by name but the first woman mentioned in the study of science. Her inscription, left by her son, was found on a tomb at Saqqara naming her ‘Chief Physician’ a position which would have made her a teacher and supervisor of males. As chief physician, she would have also attended the king, but exactly which king is uncertain because the 2nd Dynasty records are poorly preserved.