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Comment by the_af | Hacker News Reader

Maybe they, like in some Abrahamic religions to come later, considered women "impure" when they had the period, and this somehow translated to the men in the household? Wild speculation, of course.

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Menstruation, Menstrual Hygiene and Woman's Health in Ancient Egypt http://www.mum.org/germnt5.htm

That's what I thought as well, though I would expect that'd appear in higher frequency - unless the bosses sent people to check.

I think it's more likely that the men had to take over household tasks while their wives were on the rag.

Hm. Why would they have to take over? Women on their period are not invalids. Though maybe the weren't allowed to do household tasks?

Probably considered unclean -- some religions still believe this (Islam, Judaism). You can't clean and cook if you're unclean? I don't know.

In Islam and Judaism women can still do housework. It's a ritual purity, not an actual physical one.

Some women are completely disabled by their period pains. I can imagine the husband coming home to attend to her, the kids, the animals, and the house

Now imagine women without modern feminine hygiene products. It’s a very different story.

right, a woman with a particularly heavy period might need to be cared for on the worst day.

There are still some cultures where women isolate themselves in separate buildings while they are "unclean".