A Sistrum

Had to show the off the project that the covenant group ('Ancient Reflections') that I lead at my church (Bay Area UU) made. This Egyptian rattle is called a sistra or sistrum. My friend Carol lead us through the construction of it. The most of the work on it had to be done ahead to time in the collecting, cleaning flattening, and removing of the plastic inside of the bottle caps, as well as putting holes in the middle. Glenn (my dear hubby) drilled mine for me. We used bamboo skewers and then the weaving reed parts from a basket to make the looped part, and carved wooden handles from a tree that Carol had in her yard. Tied leather helps to hold it together and then to seal it and make the skewers stick Carol got some rabbit glue for us to use. And from what I understand it is glue made from parts of a rabbit. They are very primitive in the sound they make and are fun to shake. It's not something I'm going to let the kids get their hands on much. These were ceremonial instruments used by the early Egyptians to celebrate with. My finished sistrum waiting to dry.