Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · jewelry
Cowrie shell bead
Description
Gold
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.
A gold artifact shaped like a cowrie shell.
The artifact is a highly polished gold object crafted to resemble a cowrie shell, a form that often symbolizes protection and wealth in various cultures. Its smooth surface and fine details suggest expert craftsmanship, likely indicating its use as a decorative or symbolic item.
decorative
unknown
excellent
Materials
gold
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.