Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Upper Part of Sistrum (Rattle)

664–525 B.C.E.

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

The human face with cow’s ears and horns on the sistrum’s handle represents the goddess Hathor, who personifies heaven and motherhood. The pairs of holes originally held rods with metal disks or squares that produced sound when shaken. Egyptian myths suggest that the sounds of the sistrum could pacify enraged gods and goddesses. As a symbol of Hathor appeased, the sistrum came to be used in rituals and ceremonies for Hathor, Bastet, and other deities.

Caption

Upper Part of Sistrum (Rattle), 664–525 B.C.E.. Faience, 4 1/2 x 1 7/16 x 5/8 in. (11.4 x 3.6 x 1.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 05.359. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.05.359_temples.jpg)

Title

Upper Part of Sistrum (Rattle)

Date

664–525 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 26

Period

Late Period

Medium

Faience

Classification

Musical Instrument

Dimensions

4 1/2 x 1 7/16 x 5/8 in. (11.4 x 3.6 x 1.6 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

05.359

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • What art in ancient Egypt are pertained to music?

    This first thing that comes to mind are depictions of musicians. Look for something called "Relief with Female Musicians" in the Later Egypt gallery.
    There is another relief called "Musicians" in the Amarna Period gallery.
    There are also fragmentary sistra (singular: sistrum) an ancient rattle-like instrument, in the Older Egypt gallery.

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