Girdle with cowrie shells of gold

The girdle with golden shells could have been worn by a small woman. It was slipped over the head and arms to rest on the widest part of her hips and to cross the lowest part of her abdomen.

Such girdles were commonly depicted on the little dolls of wood or faience often found in the Middle Kingdom tombs. The circlet of 9 gold shells forms a girdle, which has 8 intervals into which beads, now missing, would naturally fit.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1991-1786 BC. Excavated from Dashur. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 30880