The cowroid amulet imitated the shape of a cowrie shell, and began to appear in the 2nd millennium BC. The cowrie shell itself was often worn as an amulet or as adornment by Ancient Egyptians, who saw the object and its shape as protection from the evil eye and as a symbol of fertility given its resemblance to a fecund belly. Cowrie shells and cowroids are therefore largely found in female burials, with some also occasionally found in male graves.
To discover more about amulets in Egypt, please visit our relevant blog post: Egyptian Amulets and their Meanings: Ancient Egyptian Gods.
