Cowrie shell
Description
Ptolemaic Period, 332–30 BC. Shell. l. 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in); w. 2.2 cm (7/8 in); d. 1.1 cm (7/16 in). Possibly from: Akhmim (Khemmis, Panopolis), Northern Upper Egypt. Credit: Museum Accession.
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A single white cowrie shell shown close-up, with the open aperture facing the viewer and the outer ridged margin visible.
The image depicts a small, off-white shell shaped like a cowrie (Cypraea-type), photographed against a plain light background. The shell’s aperture opening is oriented horizontally toward the viewer, revealing the dark interior along the centerline. The outer lip shows fine, regular scalloped/ridged edges along the upper and lower margins. No painted decoration, inscriptions, cartouches, or additional associated objects are visible. The surface appears slightly worn with small chips along the ridged edge near the top. The catalogue title “Cowrie shell” is consistent with the visual form.
Cross-references (4)
- Wikidata-Q Q116272953 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number O.C.2d tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 570235 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.