A percussion instrument dating back to Ancient Egypt with different varieties, mostly of U-shaped brass or bronze frame, with crossbars and moving metal hoops that when shaken make a soft clank or loud jangling. It was also much used by the ancient Minoans. The variety of sounds depend on the technique used, and traditionally it is associated with religious and ritualistic practices celebrating musical and joyful deities, originally connected to the cow goddess, Bat, but particularly the goddess Hathor. It also was shaken to avert the flooding of the Nile and to frighten away Set, the god of deserts, storms, disorder and violence.
Varying in style and shape, they have original onomatopoeic names inspired by sounds made - the sekhem (sḫm) and sesheshet (sššt), the former being the simpler, hoop-type, the latter the more ceremonial naos shape.
Its modern equivalent is the tambourine, but models were also found in Pompeii, and there are parallels to the modern African versions used in the West African disc rattle and that used for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (named as the tsenatsil -ፅናፅል) as well as modern versions made in Turkey and elsewhere.
Here’s a few varieties and some demonstrations on how they are played:
Nefertari, wife of Ramesses II, holding a sekhem-type sistrum
A sekhem-style sistrum
A more ornate sesheshet-type sistrum, shaped like a naos, 26th Dynasty (580 - 525 BC)
Minoan sistrum (2100-1900 BC)
And some modern versions:
And an African version:
So then, any more related to the terpodion, in music and culture? Feel free to suggest examples, or even from film, art, or other contexts in comments below.
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