Pair of Clappers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These clappers in the form of human hands were carved from a single hippopotamus tusk that was split in half. Such percussion instruments were used to keep time during dances or as part of a musical ensemble. These examples, however, were found in a miniature coffin at Amarna and seem to have been part of an offering.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art