Sistrum

Description The sistrum is a musical rattling instrument that was popular in the cult of the goddess Hathor. Called a "seshsehet" in Egyptian, the name imitates the swishing sound the small metal disks made when the instrument was shaken. Priestesses and royal women participating in rituals and ceremonies at temples and shrines played the sistrum. The face of the goddess Hathor is depicted with cow ears on the handle of the rattle.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
4/30/1957	Treatment	cleaned
10/24/1991	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
2/06/2001	Treatment	cleaned; loss compensation; repaired

Exhibitions

• Egypt’s Mysterious Book of the Faiyum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2013-2014.

Provenance Maurice Nahman, Cairo and Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1930, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1930