![]() ![]() If this failed, recipes using comfrey, nettle and blackberry, alongside the repetition of “magical” numerical formulae were suggested. To stem a heavy flow, women were advised to take the hair from an animal’s head and bind it to a “green” or young tree another “proven” remedy advocated burning a toad in a pot and wearing the powder in a pouch around the waist. Even Trotula of Salerno (11th century) referred to wads of cotton being used to clean the female genitals, inside and out. As one historical text describes: "Menstruating women carried round nutmegs and nosegays to conceal any arising odours, as the corrosive power of the female reproductive fluids, transmittable through smell, constituted a real fear at the time". It is clear that women were self-conscious at the time of their menses and took steps to avoid detection. Not much changed or comforted women regarding their menses during the Renaissance era. A woman on her period couldn’t even hand an object to her husband without that object needing to be re-blessed by a rabbi. Not only were women considered ritually impure, but anything a menstruating woman sat or rested on was also considered impure. era required women to be physically separated from men for the duration of their bleeding. It is generally understood that Ancient Egyptians used menstrual ‘loin cloths’ and throw-away tampons, probably made by papyrus or a similar grass (during the Roman era the tampons were probably made out of cotton instead). Women viewed menstruation as a ‘time for cleansing’. There is no evidence that menstrual blood was used as a remedy for men, and there are indications that menstrual blood was considered impure for a man to touch. It was generally considered to have a healing effect and was used for producing drugs for women. ![]() Artemis was the goddess who oversaw marriage & childbirth (on the wedding night girls dedicated all their childhood toys to Artemis at her shrine as a parting to adolescence). Marriage usually happened soon after menarche. ![]() Linen rags were used as pads (they were called phulakia, meaning “protection against” in Greek). Menarche usually began in the girl’s fourteenth year (according to medical texts). The Greek philosopher Aristotle (380-322 BC) viewed women as “unfinished males” and viewed menstrual blood as a lesser form of semen. Others had less favorable views of menstruation. Additionally, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, may have started the practice of bleeding sick people after observing women recovering from bloating and aches and pains after starting their periods. In fact, the rituals of many traditions of the Ancient Egyptians involved the ingestion of menstrual blood mixed with red wine to increase spiritual power and in Ancient Greece spring festivals included the spreading on the earth of corn mixed with menstrual blood to increase fertility. Women were thought to be at the height of their spiritual and mental power at this time. The terms "menstruation" and "menses" are derived from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon). ![]() The word "menstruation" is etymologically related to "moon". In ancient Greece, woman's menstrual bleeding was considered a cosmic event, relating and connecting one to the moon, the lunar cycles and the tides. Ancient texts and manuscripts even attempted to explain a women’s health issue present since the dawn of time: menstruation. Ancient texts also help shed light on the concepts and prevailing theories related to women’s health in antiquity. Hippocratic teachings were largely focused on gynecology and Hippocrates even wrote a treatise entitled Nature of the Child where they explain that an infant exits the womb when the food supply has been exhausted and then batters its way out (hence the pain of labor) like a chick leaving the egg- not particularly correct as we know it now, but it did help to explain the natural the best they could. This was in stark contrast to previous gynecological studies of Hippocrates who suggested heterosexual intercourse and marriage as panaceas to any gynecological ill which arose, and who believed that a woman's womb could actually migrate throughout her body and wreak havoc on other internal organs. In addition, Herophilus also wrote a treatise entitled On Midwifery which was unfortunately lost in the destruction of the library at Alexandria. Physicians before Herophilus had previously described the female anatomy with euphemisms such as aidoia, meaning 'the shameful parts'. Herophilus was the first to describe the ovaries and the fallopian tubes and give them appropriate Greek names in medical textbooks. He was a Greek physician deemed to be the first anatomist and is thought to be one of the founders of the scientific method. a Greek physician named Herophilus (335–280 BC) became responsible for many great advances in gynecology. ![]()
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