Women at Work from Ancient Egypt Through the Middle Ages

Even voracious readers are often unaware that women have worked outside the home from the earliest recorded history. A significant number of them have made names for themselves by being the first of either sex to do what they did. For example, the first musical composer we know of--Enheduanna of Sumeria, daughter of Sargon II. Or, even more astonishing, the first practitioners of Caesarian sections for a difficult birth (generally fatal for the mother but producing a live infant).

Thorough...