Chapter 707 Appendix – Treatments for Women's Hair
November 2025
TLDR Women's hair treatments in ancient Mesopotamia involved amulets, while men's treatments used topical applications.
The document discusses treatments for women's hair in first millennium BCE Mesopotamian medical texts, highlighting that these prescriptions were included in non-gynaecological sections, suggesting a classification focus on reproductive health in women's healthcare texts. The Neo-Assyrian fragments from Nineveh, part of the Nineveh Medical Compendium known as UGU or CRANIUM, contain remedies for hair conditions, including hair loss, with treatments for women involving amulets and those for men involving topical applications. This distinction may relate to the purpose rather than the patient's sex. The text also references cosmetic prescriptions in Late Babylonian collections and identifies new fragments that offer additional hair remedies.
