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Primary sourceArtifact14th century BCE

Sistrum of Tutankhamun

14th century BCE

A rare gilded sistrum, a sacred rattle, found among Tutankhamun's funerary goods, used in temple rituals and music.

This sistrum was part of the funerary goods buried with Tutankhamun, reflecting the ritual life surrounding his kingship.

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A gold-leaf wooden sistrum on a block base against a black background. It has a looped U-shaped frame with metal rods and crossbars holding metal discs, and a bent metal arm extends from the right side.
Sistrum from the tomb of Tutankhamun, 18th Dynasty. Photographed by Claude Valette, 2019 exhibition, Paris.

About this source

What it is

This sistrum, a type of ritual rattle, was found among the treasures in Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It is made of wood, gesso, gold leaf and copper alloy, with a looped frame holding metal discs that would jingle when shaken. It was photographed during a 2019 exhibition of the king's treasures in Paris.

Why it matters

Sistra were used in temple worship, often associated with goddesses such as Hathor or Isis, and their presence in the tomb shows the importance of music and ritual sound in Egyptian religious life. Its survival as a rare example gives insight into the material culture surrounding Tutankhamun's burial and the practices of his time.

Look closer

  • What does the craftsmanship of gold and copper tell you about who could afford such an object?
  • Why might a musical instrument be included among a king's burial goods?
  • What does this object not tell us about how it actually sounded or was played?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Tutankhamun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Photograph of the gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun against a black background. The mask shows a stylized face with inlaid blue eyes and eyebrows, a striped blue and gold headdress, a vulture and cobra emblem on the brow, a blue false beard, and a collar of colored inlays.Artifact

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c. 1333 BCE

Black and white photograph of a wooden figure wearing a striped royal headdress with a uraeus cobra, crossed arms holding ceremonial objects, and hieroglyphic inscriptions in columns on the lower body.Photograph

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Photograph of Tutankhamun's Shawabti Figure

Harry Burton · 1920s

Interior wall of an Egyptian tomb painted gold, with rows of painted baboon figures and hieroglyphs in boxed panels, a boat scene at top left, and a painted standing figure of a pharaoh at right. A glass display case is visible at the bottom.Artifact

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Tomb of Tutankhamun

14th century BCE

Black and white photograph of two men inside a tomb opening the carved, hieroglyph-covered gilded doors of a shrine. One man in a light cap kneels and reaches toward the doors, while another man in a jacket leans over from the right. Carved relief figures and inscriptions cover the panels.Photograph

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Opening the Doors of the Fourth Shrine in Tutankhamun's Tomb

Harry Burton · 1920s

Photo of the Restoration Stela, a tall round-topped reddish stone stele in a museum with carved relief figures at the top and rows of hieroglyphic text below, with a diagonal crack running through it.Document

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Restoration Stela

Tutankhamun · c. 1326 BCE

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