The first time Merit's name appeared was in the book by historian, scientist, and feminist Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead. In her book, "A History of Women in Medicine from the Earliest Times to the Early 19th Century," she reports:
It was believed that the inscription left in the Saqqara tomb, naming Merit Ptah as "Chief Physician," had been left by her son, and that she would have attended to the king. However, with new discoveries and deeper studies, historians investigated whether Merit Ptah really was a physician, and came to the conclusion that her clothing and postures do not represent the physicians of the time, and her supposed tomb would be located in a place that only existed in 1540 B.C, almost a thousand years after her death, besides the fact that Merit Ptah's name is not recorded in the books as a healer (GOMES, 2020). Some historians believe that Peseshet is actually the first female physician to be recorded, but there is little evidence.
Even though her life is a myth, and there is no proof that Merit Ptah really existed, her importance is still immense. Kate Campbell published her book in mid 1938, during World War II, opening the eyes of many people changing the role of women in society, inspiring a lot of women to start fighting against discrimination in medical universities that didn't let women enroll.
Moreover, even though she initially gained popularity in Europe, Merit Ptah became a symbol of black women's history, becoming an example of a genius scientist, black and African woman (FREUND, 2020).
Merit Ptah remains to this day a feminist symbol of resilience, struggle, female empowerment, and inspiration in the field of women's medicine and science. Kate Campbell may have created her story based on wrong facts, but what Merit Ptah stands for has opened countless paths and changed the lives of many women scientists.
Sources:
Hurd-Mead, Kate Campbell. A history of women in medicine, from the earliest times to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Haddam: The Haddam Press; 1938.
FREUND, C. Meet Merit-Ptah, the ancient Egyptian doctor who didn’t exist. Disponível em: <https://massivesci.com/>.
STARR, M. That Famous Story of The Female Physician From Ancient Egypt Has Turned Out to Be Super Wrong. Disponível em: <https://www.sciencealert.com/>.
Women in Science | History, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica. , 2021. (Nota técnica).
Celebrando 5000 anos de história da Mulher na Ciência - Ciência pelos olhos delas. Disponível em: <https://www.blogs.unicamp.br/>.
GOMES, G. Os enigmas de Merit Ptah, considerada primeira médica da História. Disponível em: <https://aventurasnahistoria.uol.com.br/>.
MARK, J. J. Female Physicians in Ancient Egypt. Disponível em: <https://www.worldhistory.org/>.
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