adults—spent a great deal of time with their “age sets,” or
people who were roughly the same age. At an early age chil-
dren were responsible for labor. Boys as young as six or sev-
en would, for example, help with herding or other farming
activities; girls were responsible for fetching water, caring
for younger children and the sick, cleaning, helping their
mothers in the fi elds, and food preparation.
A key development for the ancient African was initiation
into adulthood. Initiation rituals can be found in cultures
throughout the world. Th ey mark the passage of males or
females from childhood to the duties and responsibilities of
adulthood. An example is the traditional initiation ritual for
boys among the Xhosa, a Bantu-speaking people in modern-
day South Africa, whose ancestors arrived there some 1,500
years ago. Boys were isolated in a special hut built for the pur-
pose of keeping them away from the community. Elders pro-
vided them instruction, and they lived frugally for a period of
weeks or months. Perhaps the harshest part of the initiation
was the abakweta ceremony, during which the boy was circum-
cised. Boys used white clay to whiten their bodies and wore a
white blanket. Th e color white protected them from evil. Th ey
also wore traditional masks, hats, and reed skirts. All of these
items, along with the hut, were burned on the completion of
the process, to signify that the boys had cast off the past. Th e
elders then herded the boys to the river, oft en beating them
along the way. Th e boys plunged into the river to wash off the
clay and emerged on the opposite riverbank as men. Th ey were
then painted with red ochre, and their fathers gave them new
clothes or new blankets. Th ese types of ceremonies were not
limited to boys. When they reached puberty, girls, too, oft en
underwent similar practices, as happened in the Sande society
among the Mende people of West Africa. While the girls lived
in huts, older women would instruct them in the duties and
responsibilities of marital life. When they emerged from the
hut, the community would hold a celebration.
EGYPT
BY KELLY-ANNE DIAMOND REED
At birth an Egyptian child was given his or her name; ac-
cording to Egyptian religious belief, a person could not exist
without a name. Th e name was as integral to the individual as
his or her body or soul. Usually the mother named the child,
and the name could be associated with physical attributes or
the family’s occupation or ethnic origin; it might also derive
from an ancestor. Some names also refl ected wishes or excla-
mations, for example, the name Mersure, which means “May
the god Re love him.”
Th ere was a high rate of infant mortality in ancient Egypt.
Families that had fi ve surviving children might easily have
lost three others. It is thought that 20 percent of pregnancies
were not carried to term, another 20 percent of newborns
died within the fi rst year, and 30 percent of children did not
make it to their sixth year of life. Support for these fi gures
derives from the abundance of children’s graves dating to
ancient Egyptian times. Numerous spells were employed to
aid in childbirth and keep the newborn safe. Th at the well-be-
ing of their children was of great importance to most parents
is evident in the countless magical objects and amulets for the
protection of children that have been found.
Newborns were always breast-fed, since there was no
substitute for breast milk. Normally, the mother would be
the one to nurse, but a wet nurse might be employed if there
was a problem with the mother’s milk supply. In the New
Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 b.c.e.) it was common for women
of high rank to act as wet nurses for the royal family and
to be paid well for their services. Nursing oft en continued
until the child reached the age of three. It was the women
who were responsible for rearing children, sometimes with
the help of female servants.
Information about childhood and about children in
general derives mainly from Egyptian tomb scenes, statu-
ary and fi gurines, and text sources. In Egyptian art chil-
dren are depicted as smaller than their adult counterparts,
but they are not properly proportioned, nor are they always
anatomically correct. Children are frequently shown wear-
ing the “sidelock of youth,” possibly a marker of a child who
had not yet reached puberty. Children oft en had their heads
shaved, except for this thick lock of hair on the side of the
head, gathered with a tie. In the Old Kingdom (ca. 2575–2134
b.c.e.), children were generally depicted nude until the age of
puberty. In the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2040–1640 b.c.e.), they
were more commonly illustrated with clothes, similar in style
to that of their parents. In the New Kingdom children were
illustrated both clothed and unclothed.
It is diffi cult to confi rm whether Egyptian children had
toys. Archaeologists have encountered many items that have
the character of toys; however, the Egyptians also had many
small models of boats, houses, people, animals and the like,
usually carrying religious signifi cance and oft en buried with
the dead for their use in the aft erlife. Such miniature magi-
cal and religious paraphernalia could be confused with toys.
When found in settlement areas (as opposed to sacred sites
and burial locations), these artifacts are assumed to be toys.
It is also possible that the two functions overlapped—chil-
dren might have played with religious items. Games were
especially popular among Egyptians. Th ey played a board
game called Senet, an ancestor to our game of backgammon,
and another, similar one called Twenty Squares. Tomb scenes
confi rm that children enjoyed wrestling, ball games, racing,
swimming, and dancing.
Th e Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 484–420 b.c.e.) states
that the Egyptians used circumcision for hygiene purposes;
however, it may also have had a religious association. Th is act
was not performed at birth or shortly thereaft er but instead
near a boy’s 14th year, marking the transition to puberty.
From the Late Period (ca. 712–332 b.c.e.) onward, priests were
circumcised as a purifi cation rite. Th is would seem to indi-
cate that the practice was not universal and that not all boys
were circumcised. A scene from the Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2323–children: Egypt 189