Description
Book SynopsisThis book reconstructs the role of midwives in medieval to early modern Islamic history through a careful reading of a wide range of classical and medieval Arabic sources. It takes a broad historical view of midwifery in the Middle East by examining the tensions between learned medicine (male) and popular, medico-religious practices (female) from early Islam into the Ottoman period.
Trade Review'Giladi's source base is broad and diverse; his reading has clearly been vast, and he does a very good job of making his enormous body of quotations, facts, and narratives manageable for the reader. The extremely broad scope of the project (both chronological and geographical) is justified by the sparse and difficult nature of his data, which sometimes requires him to discern patterns and commonalities (or, less often, contrasts and changes) by bringing together scattered examples gleaned from different times and places.' Marion H. Katz, Journal of the American Oriental Society
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Islamic views on birth and motherhood; 2. Midwifery as a craft; 3. The subordinate midwife: male physicians versus female midwives; 4. The absent midwife; 5. The privileged midwife; 6. Ritual, magic, and the midwife's roles in and outside the birthing place; 7. From traditional to modern midwifery in the Middle East; Concluding remarks.
