Cowrie shell bead

Cowrie shell bead

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This cowrie shell-shaped bead may have come from a girdle that would have been worn by a girl or woman, perhaps in a ritual context. Other examples contain pellets that would have made a soft sound when the wearer moved. For a complete example of such a girdle, see 16.1.5).

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.