Women scientists work wonders in the ancient world. Science in history includes astrology, astronomy, medicine, alchemy, chemistry, beauty enhancement and magic. In chronological order here are twelve unforgettable women of science in the ancient world.
1. Merit-Ptah ("beloved of Ptah") is a chief physician of the Pharaoh's court c. 2700 BCE. Medicine is a complex practice strongly tied to magic or mysteries. In temples, priests are often doctors. Merit-Ptah studies skeletons, raising awareness of the corporeal body.
She develops treatments for illness and teaches other physicians. Her research is invaluable for the advancement of Egyptian medical science and helps form the foundation for modern medicine. An impact crater in Venus is named Merit Ptah after her.
2. Peseshet works during the Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (2686–2181 BCE) and is often credited as the first known female physician in history. Peseshet’s relevant title is "lady overseer of female physicians." Some scholars believe she's the same person as Merit-Ptah.
Her titles include king's acquaintance and overseer of funerary-priests of the king's mother. She may have taught or graduated midwives at a medical school in Sais. At the mastaba of Akhethetep, a high-ranking official, her personal false door is found, suggesting he's her son.
3. Tapputi is one of the world's first chemists, a perfume-maker mentioned in a cuneiform tablet dated around 1200 BCE in Babylonian Mesopotamia. She uses the first recorded still and writes the first known treatise on perfume making, preserved on a clay tablet.
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She creates a method using solvents to produce lighter and longer lasting scents. She uses various oils and flowers including calamus (sweetflag), cyperus (nutsedge), and aromatic resins such as myrrh and balsam. With water, these are distilled and filtered several times.
4. Aglaonice or Aganice of Thessaly (c. 100 BCE) is a Greek astronomer and thaumaturge She's mentioned in the writings of Plutarch and in the scholia to Apollonius of Rhodes as a female astronomer. It's said she can make the moon disappear from the sky.
According to Plutarch she knows when a lunar eclipse will happen. He says, "when the moon was due to be overtaken by earth's shadow, she made all believe she was drawing down the moon." In a lunar eclipse, the moon darkens to deep red.
5. Bao Gu (Chinese: 鮑姑, bāogū, 4th century), is a Chinese Taoist physician. Daughter of Taoist governor Bao Jing, she weds his disciple Ge Hong, the author of Baopuzi. After they marry they work together in alchemy and medicine.
She's known as one of the famous four female physicians in Chinese history, along with Zhang Xiaoniang of Northern Song dynasty, Yi Xu of the Western Han dynasty, and Tan Yunxian, working in the Ming dynasty. Bao Gu is active during the Eastern Jin dynasty.
6. Cleopatra the Physician (1st century AD) is a Greek medical writer and author of the manual Cosmetics, and two treatises on gynecology. The Cosmetics gives advice and remedies for afflictions such as dandruff and baldness.
Her cures use plants; liquids such as oil, wine, vinegar; lead and soda (sodium carbonate); and animal products such as roast horse teeth. Surviving fragments include a recipe for perfumed soap, instructions to curl and dye hair, and a list of weights and measures.
7. Sotira (1st century AD) is an obstetrix, or Ancient Greek obstetrician. She's mentioned by Pliny the Elder as an author of treatises on postpartum fever and menstruation. In his writings he documents her by name:
“... the midwife Sotira said it is a very efficacious remedy for tertians [malaria recurring every second day] and quartans [fever or ague] to smear with the flux [bloody discharge] the soles of the patient’s feet ... the remedy also revives an epileptic who has fainted.”
8. Fang (Chinese: 方), 1st century BCE, is the earliest recorded woman alchemist in China. She comes from a family skilled in alchemical arts. She studies alchemy with one of the Emperor's spouses and has access to the highest levels of society.
She's credited with discovery of the method to turn mercury into silver. She may have used the chemical technique of silver extraction from ores using mercury. Fang eventually goes insane and commits suicide. Her life and work are recorded by alchemist Ge Hong.
9. Chun Yuyan (1st-century BCE) is a Chinese court official during the Han Dynasty. She's the obstetrician and gynecologist of empress Xu Pingjun, wife of emperor Xuan. She may be the first woman of her profession in China.
Chun Yuyan also causes of the death of Empress Xu in a plot of imperial intrigue. To secure a position for her husband, she speaks to Huo Xian, wife of China's most powerful man. Huo Xian wants her own daughter as Empress, convincing Chun Yuyan to poison Empress Xu.
10. Mary the Jewess (1st century AD) is an alchemist working in in Alexandria. She's one of the first alchemical writers and is credited with the invention of several kinds of chemical apparatus. She's considered the first true alchemist of the Western world.
Mary incorporates lifelike attributes into her descriptions of metal, such as bodies, souls, and spirits. She asserts metals have two different genders, and by joining the genders a new entity can be made; as, for example, mercury (F) and sulfur (M) form mercury sulfide.
11. Cleopatra the Alchemist (c. 3rd century) is a Greek alchemist, writer and philosopher. She experiments with practical alchemy and is credited as one of the four female alchemists who could produce the philosopher's stone. She invents the alembic, a distillation apparatus.
Cleopatra the Alchemist is in Alexandria at a time when Greek, Roman and Egyptian thought converge. She is associated with the school of alchemy typified by Mary the Jewess and Comarius. These alchemists use complex apparatus for distillation and sublimation.
12. Paphnutia the Virgin (c 300 AD) is an Egyptian alchemist. She's mentioned in letters between Zosimos of Panopolis and his sister Theosebeia, also an alchemist. Within these letters Zosimos criticizes Theosebeia for talking and exchanging ideas with Paphnutia.
According to Zosimos, who's usually a supporter of female alchemists, Paphnutia is uneducated and incorrectly practices alchemy. Evidence suggests Paphnutia might be connected to a competing school of alchemy; or, she may be a priestess.
Although many more remain unnamed, these twelve women make a remarkable contribution to science and medicine in the ancient world.
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