A cartouche is a written name similar to a nameplate. Egyptians believe that if you have a cartouche on your coffin when you died you won't disappear that is so cool. Pharaohs were the first to use this fine jewelery but later on in time people hired artisans to make them. The cartouche is a sign of wealthiness. It was also made from gold. So to basicaly sum this up if you were wealthy or a pharoah you get this shiny gold thing that spells your name in heiroglyphics. Now I see why they were so popular. These cartouches are very interesting and fun to learn about.