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Egyptian Folk Medicine for New Mothers

Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash:

I gave birth to my first child roughly 6,000 miles from my own birthplace in one of the six cradles of civilization, Egypt, and spent my infant’s fledgling months raising her within this culture. As a result of this turn of events, I imbibed longstanding traditions in the region surrounding new motherhood, the most useful of which dates back to pharaonic times.

When you welcome a new baby in Egypt, it is very typical to have a very lively celebration seven days after the birth called Sebou’ (which appropriately translates to seven in Arabic). For the Sebou’ observance, family and friends are invited into the home and the baby is formally welcomed into the world.

This celebration involves noisily ringing a copper mortar and pestle — some believe that this helps to develop the baby’s hearing, while others say that it helps to keep evil spirits at bay. Words of advice are loudly intonated to the new child, including words of wisdom (i.e. “Always listen to your mother!”) and playful jokes (i.e. “Don’t…