Cowrie-Shaped Amulet in Gold Ring
Description
Object Label: Because the cowrie shell resembles female genitalia, the Egyptians believed it could magically ensure procreative powers. Wealthy Egyptians frequently wore cowroids mounted in gold rings. The design on the bottom of this cowroid is carved in a style frequently found on Hyksos scarabs. Caption: Cowrie-Shaped Amulet in Gold Ring, ca. 1630–1539 B.C.E.. Steatite, glaze, gold, 9/16 × 15/16 in. (1.5 × 2.4 cm) mount (m2 - wall mount): 1/2 × 1 × 1 1/2 in. (1.3 × 2.5 × 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.199.
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
The object is an ancient Egyptian ring with a scarab set in gold.
This artifact is a ring featuring a scarab beetle set as the central element. The scarab appears to be made of a stone or faience material, while the ring itself is composed of gold. The ring's band is plain with a polished finish, and the scarab is mounted in a delicate openwork setting. The style is characteristic of personal adornment items from ancient Egypt, where scarabs were often used as jewelry and signified rebirth and protection.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 08.480.199 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3247 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- 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.