Peseshet

Peseshet, who lived under the Fourth Dynasty, is often credited with being the earliest known female physician in ancient Egypt. Her title was "lady overseer of the female physicians," [Plinio Prioreschi, "A History of Medicine", Horatius Press 1996, p.334] [Lois N. Magner, "A History of Medicine", Marcel Dekker 1992, p.28] but whether she was a physician herself is uncertain [Sheldon J. Watts, "Disease and Medicine in World History ", Routledge 2003, p.19] . She had a son, Akhethetep, in whose mastaba at Giza her personal stela was found [Giorgio Lise, "Medicina nell'antico Egitto", Cordani 1978, p.41] [Paul Ghalioungui, "Les plus anciennes femmes-médecins de l'histoire", in BIFAO 75 (1975), pp.159-164] .

She may have graduated midwives [Mario Tosi, "La donna nell'antico Egitto", Giunti 1997, p.79] at an ancient Egyptian medical school in Sais; midwifery must have existed, even though no ancient Egyptian term for it is known. Interestingly, the Hebrew Bible - while not a proven source for historical events prior to the 7th century BCE - refers to midwives in Exodus 1,16:

"And he (i.e. the king of Egypt) said: When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools..." ["The Holy Bible, The British and Foreign Bible Society, London 1972]

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