A Coptic metal earring with a mother of pearl Coptic cross. The early cross was similar in shape to the Egyptian ankh. Additionally, the radial lines at the base suggest the hieroglyph for a woman giving birth. This is very similar to two earrings featured in Petrie (1927, pl. 10). Woolley (1907) saw some similarities between Coptic crosses and Coptic fertility figurines. Probably from Abydos. The object was gifted to the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by John Bancroft Willans, a subscriber of the Egypt Exploration Fund/Society, who received the object in 1903, and was subsequently gifted to the Egypt Centre in 1997.

Petrie, Flinders 1927. Objects of daily use: with over 1800 figures from University College, London. British School of Archaeology in Egypt and Egyptian Research Account [42]. London: British School of Archaeology in Egypt; Bernard Quaritch. [pl. 10] Woolley, C. Leonard 1907. Coptic bone figures. Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology Proceedings 29, 218–220.