The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 27, 2024

Arched Sistrum

Arched Sistrum

380–343 BCE
Overall: 21.4 x 5.3 cm (8 7/16 x 2 1/16 in.)
Location: 107 Egyptian

Description

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.
  • Purchased from E.A. Abemayor, Cairo, through Howard Carter
  • University of Wisconsin--Madison. The Book and the Spade: April 13 to May 4, 1975 : the Wisconsin Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. 1975, 23. Mentioned; p. 23, no. 54.
    Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 445; Mentioned: p. 445-6
  • The Book and the Spade. Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, WI (organizer) (April 1-May 12, 1975).
    Madison 1975; Malibu 1992, no. 31
  • {{cite web|title=Arched Sistrum|url=false|author=|year=380–343 BCE|access-date=27 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.1990