List of figures xiii List of contributors xix Preface xxiii A note on pronouns xxv Introduction 1 Part I: Ancient ways of knowing (1200 BCE−900 CE) 11 1 Tappūtī-bēlet-ekalle (fl. 1200 BCE): A cuneiform tablet on Middle Assyrian perfumery (c. 1200 BCE) 15 Eduardo A. Escobar (he/him) 2 Circe: An extract from Homer's Odyssey (c. 900-800 BCE) 23 Andrew Gregory (he/him) 3 Anonymous: Dialogue of the Philosophers and Cleopatra (c. 600-700 CE) 35 Vincenzo Carlotta (he/him) 4 The Southern Moche group: A ceramic vessel from coastal Peru (c. 200-900 CE) 40 Esme Loukota (she/her) 5 Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350-415 CE): Letter from Synesius of Cyrene to Paeonius (c. 355-415 CE) 45 Aiste Celkyte (she/her) Part II: Materials and manuscripts (900-1600 CE) 53 6 Ku'ayba bt. Sa'd al-Aslamiyya (fl. 620 CE): An extract from Kitab al-tabaqat al-kubra (Book of the Great Generations) (c. 600-900 CE) 57 Shazia Jagot (she/her) 7 Mariam al-Ijli al-Asturlabi (c. tenth century CE): An extract from Fihrist al-Nadim (Index) (c. 998 CE) Shazia Jagot (she/her) 8 Josian: Extracts from the Middle English romance Bevis of Hampton (c. 1300 CE) Hannah Bower (she/her) 9 Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587 CE), Elizabeth Talbot (1527-1608 CE) and members of the Queen's household: The Oxburgh Hangings (1569-1585 CE) Sarah Cawthorne (she/her) Part III: Producing knowledge (1600-1700) 10 Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673): Observations upon Experimental Philosophy, The Blazing World and Poems and Fancies (1668) Liza Blake (she/her) 11 Mrs Mary Chantrell (fl. 1690): Book of receipts (1690-1693) Lucy J. Havard (she/her) 12 Sati-un-Nisa (d. 1646): Ma'asir-ul-Umara (Biography of the Notables) (1780) and photographs of the mausoleum Saheli Burj (Female Companion's Monument) (2020) Mariam Sabri (they/them) and Anurag Advani (he/him) 13 Marie Crous (fl. 1641): Extracts from two of her mathematical works, the Advis de Marie Crous (1636) and Abbrégé recherché de Marie Crous (1641) Giovanna Cifoletti (she/her) and Jean-Marie Coquard (he/him) Part IV: Art, gender and knowledge (1700s) 14 Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717): Extract from Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (The Metamorphosis of Insects in Surinam) (1705) Tamara Caulkins (she/her)