Merit-Ptah ("Beloved of

Ptah Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god and patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the h ...

") was thought to be a female chief physician of the pharaoh's court during the

Second Dynasty of Egypt The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt (or Dynasty II, c. 2890 – c. 2686 BC) is the latter of the two dynasties of the Egyptian Archaic Period, when the seat of government was centred at Thinis. It is most known for its last ruler, ...

, c. 2700 BCE; she is purportedly referred as such on an inscription left on her grave at

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...

by her son. However, in recent times it has been argued that she most likely never existed, being a modern 1938 invention of a Canadian feminist called

Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead (April 6, 1867 – January 1, 1941) was a pioneering feminist and obstetrician who promoted the role of women in medicine. She wrote ''A History of Women in Medicine: From the Earliest of Times to the Beginning of the Nine ...

. Jakub Kwiecinski, a historian at the University of Colorado, was cited by secondary source ''Newsweek'' arguing that the made-up story of Merit-Ptah exemplifies how "seemingly well-sourced Wikipedia articles" can mislead, and he cautioned against over-reliance on secondary sources.

History

Merit-Ptah first appears in literature in a 1937 book by Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead on female doctors. Campbell Hurd-Mead presents two ancient Egyptian female doctors, an unnamed one dating to the

Fifth Dynasty The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties Third Dynasty of Egypt, III, Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, IV and Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, VI under the group title the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. The Fifth ...

and Merit-Ptah, dating evidently to the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

as Hurd-Mead states that she is shown in the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

(the burial ground of Egyptian kings from about 1500 BCE to 1080 BCE). The unnamed

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

female doctor is most likely

Peseshet Peseshet, who lived under the Fourth Dynasty (albeit a date in the Fifth Dynasty is also possible), is often credited with being the earliest known female physician in history. Some have credited Merit-Ptah with being the first female physician, ...

who is known from a tomb of the period. Later authors did not notice that Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead presented two doctors and mixed the data of the two women; Merit-Ptah was thus back-dated to the Old Kingdom. A female doctor Merit-Ptah is not known from any other Ancient Egyptian source, and no research publication listing doctors mentions her. A namesake, yet completely unrelated woman was the wife of

Ramose Ramose (Egyptian: ''wikt:rꜥ-ms, rꜥ-ms(.w)'') was an ancient Egyptian name, meaning "Ra is born". Variants of the name include Ramesses (Egyptian name), Ramesses (''Ramessu'') and Paramessu; these various spellings could be used to refer to th ...

, the Governor of Thebes and Vizier under

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

, and she is depicted along with her husband in

TT55 Tomb TT55 is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian Vizier Ramose. It has a main room originally containing thirty-two columns ...

Sheikh Abd el-Qurna The necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna ( ar, شيخ عبدالقرنة) is located on the West Bank at Thebes in Upper Egypt. It is part of the archaeological area of Deir el-Bahari, and named after the domed tomb of the local saint. This is the mo ...

.Baikie, James (1932). Egyptian Antiquities in the Nile Valley. Methuen. Merit Ptah crater on Venus

The

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

named the impact crater Merit Ptah on

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

after her.

References

* Kampp, Friederike: ''Die Thebanische Nekropole'' (Mainz: Zabern, 1996), Vol. I, p. 262. {{authority control 27th-century BC women Ancient Egyptian physicians Ancient Egyptian medicine Ancient women physicians Egyptian women scientists Ancient women scientists Women medical researchers Nonexistent people