Sistrum
(
σεῖστρον). A kind of rattle used in the mystical worship
of Isis, and borrowed, at the same time with it, from the Egyptians. It consisted of a thin
oval band of metal (bronze, silver,
|
Sistra.
|
or gold) fastened to a handle, and crossed by a number of little metal rods, bent at
either end, and loosely inserted in the band. It was held in the hand and shaken (Tibull. i.
3, 24). The same word is sometimes applied to a child's rattle (
Mart.xiv. 54; Pollux, ix. 127). See
Isis.