Sistrum of the Chantress Tapenu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A sistrum is an ancient Egyptian percussion instrument that was shaken during religious ceremonies and when coming into the presence of a deity. It is thought to have imitated the sound of papyrus stalks being shaken, echoing an ancient rite connected with the myth in which the god Horus was raised in secret in a papyrus marsh. The handle of this sistrum is made in the form of the "Bat emblem" which was associated with the goddess Hathor, who was the patroness of music. The arc of the sistrum is decorated with a vulture whose spread wings hold extended feathers. On the sides of the arc, just above where the arc fits into the handle, are images of the goddess Meret. The handle of the sistrum names the Chantress of Sobek of Kheny, Tapenu, justified. Kheny is the ancient town of the area of Gebel Silisila, the great sandstone quarry site, in Upper Egypt. Many manifestations of Sobek, the crocodile god, were worshipped in this region. The sistrum may date from the late Ramesside Period onward to judge from the name.

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