Sistrum
An ancient rattle with movable metal rods.
What it means
The sistrum is an ancient rattle: a frame, usually U- or horseshoe-shaped, with a handle carries loosely movable metal rods or discs running across it. When shaken, they strike against one another and against the frame, producing a rattling, jingling sound.
It belongs to the idiophones, that is, instruments whose body itself sounds.
Musical use
The sistrum is best known from ancient Egypt, where it was used in religious ceremonies and associated with goddesses such as Hathor and Isis. Through the cult of Isis it reached the wider Mediterranean world of antiquity.
In Ethiopia a related rattle, the tsenatsel, is still played today in the liturgy of the Orthodox church, which points to a very long line of tradition. Exactly how the ancient instruments sounded and were played can only be inferred from depictions and finds.
The sistrum should be distinguished from the shaken rattle filled with seeds, in which a loose filling rattles in a hollow body, and from the tambourine with its pairs of jingles set in a drum frame.
Performance practice
Shake the sistrum with a relaxed wrist and an even rhythm. Begin and end each stroke clearly so the jingling stays clearly articulated and doesn’t blur.