Pregnancy and Childbirth0

As with many aspects of Egyptian life, childbirth was regarded not only as a biological event, but as one deeply embedded within the realms of magic, religion, and the divine.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Egyptian pregnancy practices is the use of a primitive yet surprisingly insightful pregnancy test, recorded in the Papyrus Carlsberg around 1350 B.C. A woman who suspected she might be with child would urinate upon bags of wheat and barley seeds. The test’s interpretation was both diagnostic and prophetic: if either grain sprouted, it indicated pregnancy. The type of seed that germinated first was thought to reveal the sex of the unborn child — barley signifying a boy, and wheat suggesting a girl. If neither seed sprouted, it was concluded that the woman was not pregnant. Remarkably, modern scientific investigations have shown that hormones present in the urine of pregnant women can indeed accelerate seed germination, lending a degree of credibility to what might otherwise be dismissed as mere superstition.

Throughout the course of pregnancy, expectant mothers sought the protection of deities and the power of ritual. Chief among the protective figures was Taweret, a formidable goddess with the head of a hippopotamus and the limbs of a lioness. She stood as a guardian of women in childbirth, symbolising both fierce maternal protection and fertility. Alongside her was the dwarf god Bes, depicted with leonine features, who served as a ward against malevolent spirits. His grotesque and fearsome appearance was believed to terrify demons that might threaten mother or child. Amulets bearing the likenesses of Taweret and Bes were worn or placed nearby during labour to provide safety and spiritual fortification.

The actual act of giving birth was typically a domestic event, attended by female relatives or perhaps a midwife, although the role of midwifery in Ancient Egypt remains largely unrecorded in surviving texts. Women often gave birth in a squatting position, a natural posture that made use of gravity to assist the process. Some images and artefacts suggest the use of a birth stool — a specially designed seat with an opening to allow the baby to be delivered with some physical support. Beneath the woman, birthing bricks were placed. These flat, decorated clay slabs provided not only a practical base but were believed to invoke divine protection through the inscriptions and imagery they bore.

Given the high risks associated with childbirth in the ancient world, it is no surprise that labour was accompanied by incantations, spells, and magical rites. The Ebers Papyrus, one of the most comprehensive medical texts of the time, includes remedies and spells intended to ease delivery and ensure the mother’s survival. Magical “laments” — poetic chants invoking the gods — were also used to summon divine favour.

After birth, both mother and child were still considered spiritually vulnerable. Amulets continued to be worn, and protective rituals were often performed to guard against evil spirits believed to lurk nearby. The early days of infancy were treated with great caution, reflecting not only the medical dangers of the time but also the deep spiritual understanding that life itself was a gift in need of constant safeguarding.

In conclusion, the customs surrounding pregnancy and childbirth in Ancient Egypt reveal a civilisation that combined practical knowledge with a rich tapestry of religious and magical belief. From urinating on seeds to determine pregnancy, to invoking hippo-headed goddesses in the birthing chamber, the Egyptian approach was holistic, reverent, and profoundly human. These practices speak to the enduring desire of women — across all ages and cultures — to seek safety, certainty, and hope during one of life’s most transformative experiences.

A Votive Plaque of Childbirth and Divine Assistance: The Hathoric Midwives of Dendera

This exquisitely carved limestone plaque, dating from the Ptolemaic Period (c. 305–30 B.C.), offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the deeply spiritual experience of childbirth in Ancient Egypt. It depicts a woman in the act of giving birth upon a traditional birthing-chair, supported and assisted by two divine female figures who wear the unmistakable crowns of Hathor — goddess of love, fertility, and maternal care.

Each of the attendants is shown with Hathor’s signature headdress: a sun disk nestled between two bovine horns, flanked by towering plumes, a symbol as graceful as it is powerful. Their features are rendered in near three-dimensional sunken relief, a stylistic hallmark of Ptolemaic temple art. Unlike the conventional Egyptian profile style, these figures are depicted in a frontal pose, lending them a palpable presence, as though they were stepping out from the stone itself.

This plaque likely served as an ex-voto offering, a gift of gratitude placed by a devoted worshipper at the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, the goddess’s principal cult centre. Such offerings were made to thank the deity for her divine assistance during childbirth — a moment fraught with danger, uncertainty, and hope. The image captures not merely a medical procedure, but a sacred rite, where divine and mortal realms intertwined.

Hathor, long venerated throughout Egypt, was a goddess of many aspects. She embodied love, music, beauty, motherhood, and fertility. Over time, she was syncretised with the Greek goddess Aphrodite, reflecting the cultural blending that occurred during the Hellenistic period. As a divine nurse and protector, Hathor was intimately connected to the fate of women in confinement, and her blessings were invoked both in life and in the delivery chamber.

The plaque also echoes a motif found in Egyptian literature, such as in the Tale of the Doomed Prince, in which seven Hathors appear as goddesses who pronounce the fate of a newborn child. In the tale, the king, fearing the prophecy spoken over his son, constructs an isolated palace in the mountains to shield the child from harm — a testament to the perceived power and influence of Hathoric deities over life and destiny.

Within Egyptian society, personal adornments such as earrings — often of gold — were not merely decorative, but symbolic of status, protection, and devotion. Both men and women wore them, and they frequently bore associations with deities, particularly those like Hathor, whose domains included beauty and prosperity.

Now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo under the accession number JE 40627, this plaque remains a poignant and reverent testament to the intersection of faith, femininity, and fertility in Ancient Egypt. It captures not only the physical moment of birth, but the spiritual bond between women and the divine, a connection that transcended earthly fears and sought solace in the arms of the celestial mother.