History Hash Outs: Living Fossils—Anatomies of Race and Reproduction in Modern Egypt

This talk traces the scientific afterlife of the mummy Queen Henhenit from excavation to examination and display at the Naguib Mahfouz Museum of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Cairo's Qasr al-Ainy Medical School. Henhenit's story highlights the production of race science by "colonial" and "nationalist" doctors that created a fictive link between ancient and living women's bodies. These women became objects of scientific observation and study largely without their consent. The talk illuminates the violent material histories of race and reproduction forged through the measurement of pelvic bones, quantifications of women's reproductive labor power, and invasive gynecological surgeries in early twentieth-century Egypt. 

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