Born: Unknown, Egypt (assumed)
Died: Unknown
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.
Peseshet (c. 2500 BCE) was known as ‘Lady Overseer of Female Physicians’ and may have been associated with the temple-school at Sais. She has also been cited as the first female doctor known by name, but it is unclear whether she was best known as a practicing physician or a teacher. Peseshet is referred to in inscriptions as the ‘King’s Associate,’ which suggests she was the personal physician of the monarch. She is also associated with the training of midwives, one of the few references to such training in Egyptian history. All of the information about her comes from her stela at Giza, and though this is scant, it does establish Peseshet as a medical practitioner and also makes clear there were other female physicians practicing at the time whom she supervised or trained.
Peseshet would have lived and worked during the 4th Dynasty in the period of the Old Kingdom. During this time, the central government was strong and kept careful records as well as correspondence, but there is no mention of Peseshet in any of them. This is not surprising, however, since there is little mention, by name, of any physicians, female or male. After Peseshet, no women are cited as practicing physicians again until the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BCE), but this is not to say there were none. Midwives also cease to be mentioned after the Old Kingdom, but it is clear their position continued and was considered quite important.