Seals with writing found at Mohenjo-Daro. Courtesy BBC.

Did Indus Valley people have schools?  We’re not sure.

Some archaeologists believe that children did go to school to learn reading, writing, and religion.  We know that there had to be some system of education, because the Indus Valley system of writing is complex.  Indus people also used standardized systems of weights and measures, which tells us that they had to have some way of learning how to use those systems.

The Indus also made a lot of seals.  Starting around 2800 BCE in Harappa, merchants used a variety of seals to indicate ownership of storerooms or goods.  Like the one shown here, these seals were made from clay and attached to an object by a chord or secured onto a door.  Some of these seals show females participating in rituals, such as the consecration of Priestesses in front of a mythological figure known as the Lady of the Beasts.  We’re not sure whether these seals were used by girls, but the presence of females on them suggests that some women – including priestesses – might have been merchants or participated in business transactions.

Dog figurine with collar from Harappa. Image courtesy Harappa.com. This likely indicates that girls kept dogs as pets.

Girls also had pets.  We’ve found many preserved animal paw prints that indicate families would have kept monkeys, birds, lizards, snakes, deer, pigs, lambs, and dogs as pets.  There are also figurines made of these animals, suggesting that pets were a central part of family life.

Dancing Girl, c. 2500 BCE from Mohenjodaro. Image courtesy National Museum – New Delhi.

Another thing that girls enjoyed was dance.  We’re not sure if this was just play or was tied to a ritual, but there are many Indus Valley figurines of girls dancing. It’s also possible that these dancing figures might be slaves – like other civilizations that had dancing slave girls, the girl shown here is naked except for her necklaces and bangles.

Photo of the Great Bath under excavation at Mohenjo-Daro. Courtesy Saqib Qayyum, 2014.

We’re not sure what religion the Indus Valley practiced.  Archaeologists have found a variety of figurines and images that suggest they had a religion, but to date there is little evidence of temples.  The only religious site we know of is a shrine at Mohenjo-Daro that is part of the Great Bath complex, where people took part in ritual bathing.  This shrine features a sculptured female head, several pieces of stone sculptures, miniature pots and figures, and a large number of seals with a unicorn motif.

“Intaglio seal (H97-3433/7617-01) with script and unicorn motif found in Trench 41NE in 1997. This seal dates to approximately 2200 BCE, at the transition between Harappa Periods 3B and 3C.” British Museum

It’s this unicorn motif that is the most suggestive of religion.  The earliest representation of a unicorn dates back to 2600 BCE, and unicorns were used for over 700 years.  The unicorn images can vary regionally, but are most often found on stamp seals and on tablets, suggesting it was very important throughout the Indus Valley.

Woman with tigers on an Indus seal. “The Woman Who Dances with Tigers: Indus Valley Seals” from SuppressedHistories.net.

Other representations suggest that horned beings were part of religion.  Many horned human figures and ritual designs are widespread, especially one of a seated male in a yoga-like position.  Women are also depicted wearing this horned headdress, sometimes fighting a tiger.  One is known as the Lady of the Beasts, though images of her are rare.  She is often seen seated on a throne, wearing a buffalo horned headdress and surrounded by numerous animals.

Looking at all of this evidence, it’s possible that girls were part of religion – as priestesses or worshipping the Lady of the Beasts.  They likely took part in ritual bathing – which is still practiced today in India.  Girls may also have constructed or worshipped shrines.  Today, villages in India have humble shrines that look like domestic huts and temples are rare.  It’s likely that Indus Valley girls worshipped within their own homes rather than at temples, using these modest shrines to revere the gods with offerings of fruit and flowers after partaking in a ritual bath.

An epinetron is a sheath for one’s leg that would protect it during the weaving process. This Epinetron depicts four women weaving and spinning (500-480 BCE). British Museum

Unlike boys, girls in ancient Greece did not go to school for a formal education. At the age of 6, when most boys would go to get an education, or παιδεία (paideia), girls would stay home with their mothers and learn domestic trades. Along with cooking and cleaning, girls were taught how to weave, spin thread, and contribute to textile production.

Textile production was one of the most profitable skills a woman or girl could have in the ancient world. Even as a slave, if a girl had incredible skills she could be sold to work for wealthier families or even to the ruling families of the region. In cities like Pylos and Knossos, slave girls traded as weavers to the cities’ palaces were recorded on Linear B tablets and stored in the palace archives. Having any written record shows the importance of the transaction and places value on the skills and products the girls were providing. Textiles were one of Mycenae’s largest exports, putting skilled weavers in high demand. It was only in Sparta where girls were not expected to be highly skilled at weaving and spinning thread, because physical fitness in women was thought to provide the society with stronger sons and therefore soldiers.

Depending on her family’s social and economic standing, a girl would be taught practical skills like how to plough fields and tend to animals, or even how to play an instrument or read and write. Women of wealth and high social standing such as Sappho and Telesilla of Argos are some of the girls who received an education and went on to create poetry in an all-male dominated society.

Sculptural depiction of a young Minoan girl on a swing (Aghia Triada, 1450-1300 BCE). Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, via Wikimedia Commons.

While there have been many artifacts recovered of toys and games, there is no way to prove that young girls would have played with them. Pre-Classical artistic representations of young girls more often show them as a part of a religious ritual or representing the industriousness of women weaving.  They are rarely shown at play. It would be nice to think that girls got the same amount of time to play as the young boys, but girls were confined to the home to tend to domestic duties, usually from a very young age. However, during their infancy, since they would be watched by groups of women, boys and girls would have been allowed to play together.

Toys like ceramic rattles, spinning tops, and throwing discs would have been the most common. Wealthier families could afford more elaborate dolls and figures as well as time to play, while poorer families had to employ their children to work out in the fields or to help with caring for the household.

Bronze statue of a female Spartan athlete competing in the Heraean Games (Prizren Serbia , 520-500 BCE). British Museum, via Wikimedia Commons.

In most of Greece, girls were excluded from being able to train and exercise outdoors where men were, and were forbidden from participating in athletic competitions such as the Olympic Games. But in places like Sparta, it was thought that all Spartans should be well trained and physically fit, including the women. This was to help create stronger soldiers by starting with stronger mothers. Sparta’s beliefs were frowned upon by the other Greek city-states, who thought men were stronger when separated from women.

Why was Sparta so different from other Greek city-states?  Watch this TED-Ed video for the answer.

A young shaved head girl lays crocus stamens at the feet of a large seated goddess flanked by a griffin, known as the Mistress of Animals (Akrotiri, 1650 BCE). Museum of Prehistoric Thira, via Wikimedia Commons.

Greek religion and mythology begins to take shape during this Pre-Classical era, starting first as a humble theology focused around nature and a mother goddess. Girls held a very high status during this time, especially in the Minoan civilization, as they were seen as mothers and life bringers. Their religion spread around the Aegean by trade and commerce, throughout the Cycladic islands and to the more patriarchal Mycenaeans in the Peloponnese.  In all these regions, girls remained the dominant figures in the religion, whether as deities or priestesses.

In a fresco known as the saffron gatherers, a young girl with a shaven head is seen picking crocuses with another woman priestess. Seen as a ritual of initiation, the crocus stamens were used to dye women’s ceremonial robes a golden color (Akrotiri, 1600 BCE). Museum of Prehistoric Thira, via Wikimedia Commons.

While not much is known about the specifics of the Minoan religion, many of the artistic and figural representations left behind show an intricate initiation process for young girls into priestess-hood and the many rites, or τέλος (telos), performed as a priestess. Young girls would shave but a few tendrils of hair from their heads and gather crocuses to dye their ceremonial robes a yellow color. This same flower is also associated with relieving menstrual cramping. They would also use the crocuses as incense and offerings to the goddess. Priestesses would oversee ceremonial processions, leave offerings at the peak sanctuaries, and conduct animal sacrifices.

After the fall of the Mycenaean civilization in 1100 BCE, the Dark Ages ushered in a refining of the Greek theology influenced more by the patriarchal societies of the East. The division between priestesses and average girls that once was on equal planes was now very far apart. While girls still played a vital role in rituals, they did not hold the same positions in religion that they once had, losing the privileges that came with power and influence.

Marriage contract between Patous and Nebwotis (199 BC.). Image courtesy Papyri.info and used under Creative Commons license.

Once girls were a little bit older and started menstruating, they were expected to get married.  As wives, they would start a household and raise a family while still young. From the archaeological record, it seems that Egyptian girls didn’t necessarily need permission from their parents in order to marry.  Marriages were probably social arrangements that helped regulate the ownership of property. There is evidence that as adults, girls had financial independence and some earned the same pay as men. Women were able to own money and property, and make legal contracts such as a will or marriage contract.  The marriage contract between Patous and Nebwotis shows that women such as Patous were included in marriage negotiations, which would guarantee her control over her inheritance and allowance.

Although girl had many rights, most became wives and mothers.  Some girls grew up to be high-ranking officials, but this was only an option for the highly educated and very wealthy.

A wooden model showing women weaving (11th dynasty). Image courtesy The Global Egyptian Museum. Object held by the Egyptian Museum.

Egyptian girls would have been educated at home. Their mothers taught them practical skills, such as how to take care of babies, spin wool, weed the fields, look after animals and grind grain to make beer and bread. Girls were expected to help work in the house and fields, as well as to raise other children in the house.

Rich families employed slaves to teach children at home.  Among the wealthy, a girl’s education may have involved reading, writing, and playing musical instruments.  It is likely that girls and boys were educated together until they were older, when only the boys would continue their education.  However, only 2% of all Ancient Egyptians were fully literate, so very few girls would have been educated.

There are examples of female doctors, officials, and even pharaohs, but this is rare.  Girls could also become priestesses in Egypt’s temples, an important and powerful role.  Wealthier girls would have had more freedom to become priestesses and officials, as their families did not need them to earn money through outside labor.

However, for most girls in Ancient Egypt of all social classes, their primary role was as a mother and wife.

In tomb paintings, both boys and girls are depicted very similarly, so it is likely that girls and boys played together with similar toys. Girls would have probably played with other children who lived near them, but the poorer the family, the more likely they would have been expected to work from a young age – this would have limited their play!

Dolls and toys were very common in ancient Egypt.  Archaeologists have found many toys in tombs, which tells us that play was important. Wooden animals attached in a line by string and pulled along were popular, as were dolls made of wood and clay.  Balls were also easy to make and would have given hours of amusement.

As girls got older, they were expected to follow their mothers more and help in the house.  They would have spent their free time swimming or playing board games such as Senet or Mehen. If you feel like playing Senet, download this PDF from the Museum of Science in Boston on how to make your own board and learn all the rules!

Paintings also show girls dancing, playing musical instruments and playing piggy-back. Besides toys, banquets were popular events as the ancient Egyptians were quite sociable. Families and friends would gather to eat food and drink together while watching dancers or listening to music.

Religion was very important in ancient Egypt and there were many gods and goddesses to worship. Some gods and goddesses were worshiped according to where a girl lived, while others were worshiped for a specific reason. There was no official set of beliefs and no congregations like in places of worship today. Worship was generally carried out by the priests and priestesses, and worship was not meant to make a relationship between a god or goddess and an individual. Despite this, there may have been some worship at home, with evidence of niches and altars in homes and personal offerings, especially for such instances as childbirth and fertility.

Some girls might have worked in temples, while others might have played instruments in the temples. The sistrums showen at right were possibly played by a female temple dancer, and we can see the engraving of Hathor.  Hathor was a popular goddess of love, pleasure and sexuality.

Linen fabric with painting of an offering to the goddess Hathor (New Kingdom). “Linen textile with a painted inscription on one side. 1906,1013.151,AN236333001” Image courtesy The British Museum.

Girls had some choice over which gods and goddesses they worshiped. There were some very popular goddesses that tended to be worshiped more than others. Isis was the most well-known and popular. She is often presented as a women and was revered as a loving wife and mother.

Another popular goddess was Hathor – the goddess of love, pleasure and sexuality. Hathor liked music and was associated with the sistrum, as well as mirrors, which came to symbolize femininity and female sexuality. Hathor was also thought to help unmarried girls find husbands and to help them become pregnant. In “Offering to Hathor,” we can see women making an offering to Hathor.

Decorative item from the headdress of King Senusert II (12th dynasty). Image courtesy The Global Egyptian Museum. Object held by the Egyptian Museum.

Some goddesses were  associated with animals that were thought to be good mothers, such as cobras.  In fact, there are several goddesses that could take the form of a cobra, including Wadjet, the protector of women in childbirth.  Wadjet was the local goddess of the city of Dep (Buto) who protected Lower Egypt.  Her protection was shown with the sun disk, also called a uraeus, which was the emblem on the crown of Lower Egypt.

Another goddess who appeared as a snake was Meretseger.  Believed to be dangerous and merciful, Meretseger was closely connected with the pyramid-shaped peak in the Valley of the Kings (called al-Qurn), and was the patron goddess of the workers who built the tombs in Deir el-Medina.  She was said to punish workers who committed crimes, and was known to bring “sweet breezes” to those in pain.  Meretseger was also said to appear as a cobra and spit venom at anyone who tried to vandalise or rob the royal tombs.

Incense burner base, c. 400-550 CE, Guatemala. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Cacao was both currency and a prestigious gift. The goddess of cacao and fertility, Ixcacao, bears a ripe pod, with cacao flowers in her hair and a feathered divining mirror on her chest.

Girls would help to process a variety of foods, including maize, beans, squash, chili peppers, shellfish, deer, and small mammals.  They also participated in many feasts, which were linked to rituals.  One of the favored drinks for these feasts was cacao, which was consumed as early as 1900 BCE.  Girls would serve cacao as a drink in chocolate pots.

Want to try a Maya cacao drink? Here’s a recipe!

Girls also produced a variety of textiles and ceramics.  They used different objects in spinning and weaving depending on their social status.  Evidence from Ceren, which was buried by volcanic ash in 600 CE, indicates that textiles were considered artworks.  Textiles were produced using spindle whorls, and the high number of weaving tools found throughout residences indicates that this was a major craft for women of all classes.

Maya stucco glyphs displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Palenque. Photo by Kwamikagami of Wikimedia Commmons, 2004.

In the beginning, the Maya probably spoke one or a few languages; but over time, this evolved into over 30 different languages.  The most common was Ch’olan, used in writing.  The Maya system of writing was highly complex, featuring more than a dozen subsystems of hieroglyphic scripts.  They used this writing to produce monumental texts and books, though the majority of their books were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors.  Only 4 confirmed books have survived, indicating that all of the Maya were highly literate and recorded their learning and rituals.

The Maya also had a system for mathematics and calendaring.  The first concept of zero was created by the Maya. The Maya also used their math skills to develop a complex calendar that recorded the lunar and solar cycles, eclipses, and movement of the planets. This calendar was more accurate than any contemporary system in the world and was tied to their rituals. You can learn more about the calendar system here.

This high degree of literacy suggests a centralized system of schooling.  Girls went to these schools.  Representations of female scribes in Mayan art have survived, and these women called themselves “aj tz-ib” or “one who writes or paints.”  However, we are not sure how many female scribes actually existed, or whether it was common for girls to attend school.

“Seated female effigy whistle,” c. 600-750 CE, Campeche, Jaina Island area (Mexico). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Maya girls loved to play.  Archaeological excavations have revealed a variety of toys, including wheeled toys, musical instruments, and rattles.

Girls loved to play music.  Some of the most common instruments found in elite residences are small whistles, which have one resonator chamber and two stops of the same size to produce three notes.  These whistles often have human or animal heads attached to the resonator.  It is unclear if these heads are mythological or effigies.

Other musical instruments include flutes, clay bells with clappers, turtle carapaces, ceramic drums, and bone rasps.  Girls are often depicted in Maya art playing these instruments, wearing either simple or elaborate attire.  Since musical instruments have been found in and around all types of buildings, and most often in side rooms or burial chambers that housed women and children, it’s highly likely that music was an integral part of girls’ lives.

Cylinder vase (ballgame scene),” c. 750-850 CE, Belize or Mexico. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This scene is possibly related to the ritual Mesoamerican ballgame, including three women wearing long dresses and five male figures wearing black shorts and black short-sleeved tunics

Maya girls may also have participated in the famous Maya ballgame called ōllamaliztli or pitz.  Played as early as 1400 BCE, this ballgame was ritualistic and had many different variations.  It was probably similar to racquetball, where the aim was to keep a rubber ball in play by striking it with the hips, arms, or bats.  The game may have been played during rituals, and is linked to the myth of the Hero Twins.  Accounts from Spanish explorers record the ballgame as being used to determine who would rule over the city, perhaps providing a way to resolve conflicts without warfare.  We also have evidence that it was played by women and children as a simple game, but we’re unsure if girls participated in the ritual aspects.

Front Face of a Stela (Free-standing Stone with Relief), 692. “Waka Stela 34.” The Cleveland Museum of Art. In this image, a royal woman marks the passage of a twenty-year period known as the k’atun. She originally stood in a plaza next to a portrait of her spouse, with whom she ruled El Peru-Waka, a provincial Mayan town. She may have even held higher authority than her husband, serving as a military governor.

Girls were a major part of Maya religion.  The Maya were ruled by a divine king or queen, who was the center of political and religious power.  Scholars have long assumed that Maya society was patrilineal, with queens only ruling when there were no male heirs.  Yet this has recently been challenged by the work of Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor.

At Naachtun in northern Guatemala, Dr. Reese-Taylor found depictions of a queen on Stela 18, showing her with a battle shield strapped to her arm and standing on the back of an enemy captive.  Intrigued, Dr. Reese-Taylor looked at many other sites.  She identified many sculptures at Naachtun that depicted both kings and queens as conquering heroes, including this representation of Lady K’abel currently held by the Cleveland Museum of Art.  She also confirmed the presence of warrior-queens at Coba, Naranjo, and Calakmul – with over 10 different queens sporting headdresses and symbols of war.  Taken together, her research has revealed that northern Maya cities prized their female ancestors and placed great value on royal women – many of whom played central roles in politics.

Dr. Reese-Taylor’s findings are also supported by recent discoveries.  At Tombs 1 and 2 of Yaxuna, the burials of women had more grave goods and showed more care than those of men, suggesting the women ruled the city.  At Waka, archaeologists found a tomb under the main courtyard of the palace that held the remains of a woman surrounded by 23 offering vessels and hundreds of pieces of jade, beads, and shells.  The women was wearing a huunal, a jewel worn only by royalty of the highest status and which indicated she was a warlord.  And in Copan, the 5th-century queen buried in the Margarita Tomb is dressed in garments of precious greenstone, shells, and feathered bird heads as she rests on a massive carved funerary slab.

Yaxchilan Lintel 25, c. 600-900 CE. The British Museum. Lady Xook, wife of Shield Jaguar II, is having a vision with regard to a Teotihuacan serpent in the hallucinatory stage of the bloodletting ritual.

Girls also held a high place in Maya mythology.  The Moon Goddess, frequently depicted in codices and murals, was associated with sexuality, procreation, fertility, vegetation, and disease.  She existed in many forms: as a wife, grandmother, or even independent of male escort.

The Q’eqchi myth of the Sun and Moon tells us that the Moon Goddess was wooed and captured by the Sun.  Her father, angered by this, had his daughter destroyed and used her menstrual blood to create creatures that spread poison and disease – hinting that women were powerful, but that menstruation may have been taboo.  Yet the evidence for this is conflicting. In Maya society, blood was a powerful ritual element to contact or manifest spiritual beings – and girls participated in bloodletting rituals.  Men also emulated menstruation by performing blood-letting on their genitals, suggesting that women’s ability to menstruate may have made them more connected to the spiritual realm.