which occupy the second division of the case. It is well known that
music was generally cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, even before
Terpander had devised a system of musical notation: and that in their
religious ceremonies music was much used. The sistrum, of which the
visitor will notice one or two samples in the division, was the
instrument most generally used. It consisted of wires suspended
through the sides of an arch, to which a handle, generally highly
ornamented with the head of Athor, as in the one in the case, is
fixed:--the wires terminating with heads of sacred animals, upon which
rings were suspended that produced sounds by being shaken backwards
and forwards.
There are also some Egyptian harps; portions of flutes found in the
northern brick pyramids at Dashour; a pipe with seven burnt holes in
it; and a pair of bronze cymbals tied together by a band of linen. The
division next to that in which the musical instruments are arranged,
is filled with