This object could be an earring. Earrings such as these have been found on mummies and are extremely common in New Kingdom (ca. 1550 BCE - 1069 BCE) burials. Earrings were made of silver, lead, ivory, bone, and glass, with more expensive materials like electrum being used by men and women of the upper classes. A similar object in the collection of the Liverpool Museum is identified as a hair ring or wig ornament. Wealthy Egyptians had their hair fashioned at a barber or hairdresser's, while middle-class people did their own hair and peasants shaved if off for convenience.

Personal hygiene was very important to ancient Egyptians. They used soda-a mixture of sodium carbonate, baking soda, and salts-to cleanse their bodies and afterward would rub on perfumed ointment. Women would also use perfume in their hair.

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Sources:

Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt. Anne K. Capel and Glenn E. Markoe (Editors). New York: Hudson Hills Press (in Association with Cincinnati Art Museum), 1996. Global Egyptian Museum

Lionel Casson, Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt. Revised edition. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.

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