Eafiu’s Reviews > Women in Ancient Egypt > Status Update

The chapters on dress, adornments and domestic affairs were a little dull to read from beginning to end but still retained what made the previous chapters such a great source of knowledge. This is a treasure for anyone who'd like to write period fiction and need details of day to day life!

Health & Childbirth: I'm fuzzy about how hazardous childbirth was for young girls (& the average life expectancy being as low as 20, is that lowered by infant mortality?), but the chapter was pretty illuminating about how ancient medicinal lore travelled the world. Also, I appreciated how she included parallel practices in Western history to show AE medicine/practices weren't ~omg so weird and some backed w/ science!

I wish I could ask Watterson about how it's possible to reconcile a husband and wife's many responsibilities to each other in their own household and the age of marriage being between 13-15. I would have liked more sources/discussion of that question but at the same time I know sources for this sort of thing in Ancient Egypt is both indirect and fragmented so *shrug emoji*?

Introduction + Chapter 1: Watterson has done an incredibly good job communicating how archeological findings and historical writings are interpreted to give us insights on Ancient Egyptian culture as well as navigating around both modern and ancient misogyny for the reader's sake. It's very plain writing without ever being dull. A great start for any interested reader, no prior knowledge required.