Female figurines found in the New Kingdom have also been interpreted as fertility objects(Baines and Malek 1980: 208). These small female figures are shown virtually naked, often with the pubic triangle defined (Robins 1993: 75). Examples of these are shown to the above and below, from the Agyptisches Museum Berlin Collection and the London Petrie Collection. They can wear a necklace, a girdle around the hips, and/or an elaborate hair arrangement. Around the neck of the fourth figure from the right is a "Isis-knot" amulet, which is associated with life and sexual fertility (Baines and Malek 1980: 208). Like the frog beads, their presence in tombs is a reflection of the Egyptian obsession with rebirth in the after life. The deceased, male or female, child or adult would be helped in rebirth by these votive offerings (Robins 1993: 76).

The slender bodied female figure predominates in art, however in non-royal art there are some exceptions including a type of vessel that shows pregnant woman. An example is seen to the right from the British museum. She is squatting, naked, and rubbing her belly. Although the pregnant woman of the vessel is represented naked there is an absence of genitals, this might be interpreted as warding off miscarriage. Without any openings she can not possibly miscarry (Robins 1993: 80).

Taweret, a protective deity of pregnant women and women in childbirth, is regularly shown pregnant and takes on the form of a hippopotamus with the limbs of a lion, the tail of a crocodile, and a human breast (Robins 1993: 80) as seen in the image to the right, from the British Museum. Protective deities would have been the Egyptian equivalent to pre-natal care.

Another prevalent protective entity would have been Bes, seen below from the Berlin Collection, from the reign of Akhenaten (Friedman 1998: 108).
Bes images appear on infant feeding cups and on reliefs showing the births of Hatshpsut and Amenhotep III (Friedman 1998: 209).

Hathor was the Egyptian mother-goddess and is also seen in depictions of scenes related to birth and childcare. The 18th Dynasty bowl to the left, from the Berlin Collection, is an example of a distinct type of votive offering to Hathor. Imagery on this bowl alluding to fertility includes the lotus and fish motifs (Friedman 1998: 211). The closing and opening of the lotus during its night and day cycle indicated the renewal of life and is a common theme in tomb decoration. The tilapia fish guards its young in its mouth (Friedman 1998: 211) and may have represented protection of the young.

A structure, or "birth bower" was built on the roof or in the garden of Egyptian homes, especially to house the new mother and baby during and after the birth (Robins 1993: 83). The new mother and baby might have been kept in confinement for a period after birth and might have undergone a "purification" ceremony before rejoining society (Robins 1993: 83). The birthing bower is an extremely powerful icon in New Kingdom art and repeated references to it are seen. There are several ostraka found depicting the mother nursing and tending her baby in a birth bower structure. An example can be seen above on the ostrakon from Deir el-Medina, Cairo. The mother can be tended by nude female children, or as seen in this example, monkeys.

The plate below from the Leiden, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden shows a naked girl playing the lute, with a Bes figure tattooed on her thigh (Robins 1993: 186). Women are frequently seen playing musical instruments and these scenes are often related to sexuality and fertility. Musicians are also found in birth related art and may have been connected with the protection of mothers and infants.

Kissing is not uncommon in Egyptian art, and very frequently seen in Amarna art during this especially sensual period. Akhenaten and Nefertiti are pictured cuddling and kissing their six daughters as seen on the stela (much) below from the Berlin Collection; Akhenaten is kissing the nude Meretaten. Kissing would have been associated with "giving life" in the Egyptian mind (Arnold 1996: 104). Below is an unfinished piece found in the workshop of Thutmose the sculptor of Akhenaten and a queen or princess, Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The Stelae of Amarna

One sees the lower sections of reed walls which if the picture was complete would have been part of a light reed booth called the "zeh netjer" (Arnold 1996: 100). This type of building would have been highly charged in the Egyptian mind with symbolic connotations to birth and rebirth (Arnold 1996: 100). Also compare it with the relief of the servant woman suckling a child to the right from the German Instiute of Archaeology, Cairo. The position of Nefertiti on the lap of the King is similar to this pose of baby on the lap of its mother. In addition the composition of the Louvre fragment the scene is noticeably similar to the composition of this relief. A large mound, a fruit basket in one case, possibly a rock pile in the other is present in the right half of the design. The primeval "mound" has an important part in the Egyptian creation myth and would have also had symbolic connotations.

Arnold believes these stelae were placed close to the house entrance to ensure divine protection for marriage, birth, and infants. Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty would have connected the themes of lovemaking, birth bowers, and children to motherly protection.

In Egyptian tomb decoration, a king's mother is often indistinguishable from his wife because both are depicted as youthful figures and both can be referred to as "Queen" (Robins 1993: 83).

Children were known to be suckled up to three years (Robins 1993: 89). Since women are less likely to conceive when nursing, this may also have helped in preventing pregnancy for a period after the birth of a child. In the Wall painting sketch (below) from a Theban tomb in the 18th dynasty, the woman is nursing a grown child and not a infant.

Akhenaten's daughters take on several mysterious characteristics. To the right is a detail of Nefertiti and one of her daughters from the Agyptisches Museum, Berlin.

The heads of the princesses have elongated skulls and infantile baby fat on their chin, as seen to the left from the Agyptisches Museum. This may have emphasised their position as babies although they must have been varied ages when the stela was created. Newborns, directly after birth, occasionally have slightly coned head due to the birthing process and the flexible nature of there skulls. For these infants the shape of there skull will return to a normal shape a few days after birth. However the princesses continue to be proportioned in this manner most likely to advertise their infantile symbolism.