Cowroid, New Kingdom, Egypt, 1550 -1070 BC

The cowroid is a popular form of scaraboid with a circular or elongated oval base with markings on its back, which show that it was based on the cowrie shell. The cowrie shell was believed to have amuletic significance because of the resemblance to the female genitalia. These shells are even found in graves dating to as early as the Predynastic Period. However, from the late Old Kingdom onwards they were being imitated in blue-glazed composition and other semi-precious stones, with gold and silver examples known from the Middle Kingdom. Usually part of a woman’s girdle, the cowroids would have been in exactly the right place to ward off evil influences from the relevant bodily part of the wearer, especially if she were pregnant.