The cowroid (or cauroid [1] ) was an ancient Egyptian seal-amulet that imitated the cowrie shell. [2]
The cowroid (or cauroid [1] ) was an ancient Egyptian seal-amulet that imitated the cowrie shell. [2]
When incorporated into a woman's girdle, cowroids would've had an apotropaic use protecting the wearer from unwanted forces affecting this area of the body, particularly during pregnancy. [3]
In Pre-dynastic Egypt and Neolithic Southern Levant, cowrie shells were placed in the graves of young girls. [4] The modified Levantine cowries were discovered ritually arranged around the skull in female burials. During the Bronze Age, cowries became more common as funerary goods, also associated with burials of women and children. [5]
From the late Old Kingdom onwards, cowrie shells were being imitated in blue-glazed composition and other semi-precious stones, with gold and silver examples known from the Middle Kingdom. As time progressed, they corrupted into a simple back design devoid of a ventral opening. Cowroids were commonly used during the Middle Kingdom, the Second Intermediate period, the 18th and 19th Dynasties, and the Saitic period. [6]
