Cleveland Museum of Art (Egyptian) · tool
Arched Sistrum
Description
[Egypt, Late period (715–332 BCE), Dynasty 30] A sistrum is a musical rattle. Metal disks strung on wires along the arched upper end of the sistrum produced a rustling sound that was supposed to have a calming effect on the nerves of various deities, especially the goddesses Hathor and Bastet. Appropriately, this example is decorated with a Hathor head (a woman with cow’s ears) and a cat (the image of Bastet). These instruments are particularly associated with women, who played them as members of a temple choir.
Cross-references (2)
- Wikidata Q60750253 tier-1
- CMA-id 101377 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
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- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.