Fertility Figures Found in Tombs

I recently visited a small local art museum that had a couple stone figures of naked women from ancient Egypt, circa 1540-1075 BCE. Since these carved chicks were found in tombs, archeologists at first thought they were replicas of concubines designed to pleasure the departed in the afterlife. But the theory didn't hold when they started finding the figures in the tombs of women and children.

It's more likely, then, that the figures are those of goddesses who oversee fertility and childbirth. But why in tombs? In answer to my question, the museum placard politely explained that in the Egyptian religion, birth in this world is closely linked to re-birth in the afterlife. The figures were placed in tombs to guide the way from one life to the next.

What with Clomid and in vitro and all the other technologies available to modern couples, I've often wondered what women have done in the past who struggled with getting pregnant. With all the charts and measurements, it's sometimes easy to create the illusion of control. But when you really think about it, it hasn't changed very much. No, not that much at all in several thousand years.