The Role of Wet Nurses in the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom
Representations of and references to wet nurses appear often on the monuments and in the writings of the families they served and the children they nursed. Yet, little is known about the specific women depicted or their own experiences. Modern attempts to reconstruct their lives and roles often rely on comparisons with the Victorian and modern experiences of wet nurses and nannies. Nevertheless, when brought together, the evidence from this period reveals a unique and important role for these women, one that often places them in a role as kin and paid worker simultaneously. In this lecture, Cannon Fairbairn will present several depictions of wet nurses from the New Kingdom from differing contexts in order to explore what might be learned about these women and the roles they played in ancient Egyptian households and society.
Cannon Fairbairn recently completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham. Her research examined images of goddess’s nursing the ancient Egyptian king from the New Kingdom. She graduated with her Masters from the University of Memphis (USA). She has continued her research looking at images of nursing outside the royal sphere, focusing specifically on wet nurses.
Doors open 7:30pm GMT+1, lecture begins at 8pm
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The Manchester Ancient Egypt Society welcomes everyone with an interest in ancient Egyptian history. The oldest and largest Egyptology society in the UK, we organise an annual programme of lectures from visiting Egyptology professionals, as well as conferences, study days and regular trips to Egyptology collections in the UK and further afield. You can find out more about our activities on our website, meet some of our members, download the latest lecture programme and get details about how to join us. www.maesweb.org.uk
