Ta-daa! I am now the proud owner of a sistrum, much like the one priestesses and devotees of Hathor used in Ancient Egypt and nearby lands (like Timna in Israel). I acquired this one via a work trade. My friend Mary, and Egyptologist who lives part time in Luxor and part-time in the U.S., gave me this on in exchange for helping her with a grant proposal to the Archaeological Institute of America. She has been working to cultivate a blue lotus pond. In pharonic times, the *blue lotus was an important flower for medicinal and spiritual purposes. It appears in much of Egyptian art and architectural decoration, but it does not grow in contemporary Egypt.
I will be using this sistrum to capture acoustic reverberations in Timna in the copper mines, in the rock formations (Pillars of Solomon) and around the remains of the Hathor chapel there.
Mary also threw in a Hathor t-shirt. I feel so inspired...
*Note, I have not vetted the scholarly veracity of this article on the blue lotus, but it's most credible "looking" I found at a glance: http://www.trinfinity8.com/secrets-of-the-ancient-egyptian-sacred-blue-lotus/
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