Ptolemy I

When sistra were made of faience and were engraved with a royal name, they functioned as a temple offering, in this case for Hathor.L. Manniche, ‘Sistrum’, in D. B. Redford (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford University Press; Oxford, 2005). The royal behind this sistrum is found on the handle of the sistrum, in hieroglyphs:

Son of Re, lord of crowns, Ptolemy I, alive like Ra for ever and ever.

Ptolemy I was the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a dynasty of Greek rulers that lasted from the death of Alexander the Great to the conquest of Egypt by the Romans in 30 BCE. Ptolemy I ruled Egypt for about forty years and died at the age of 84.

This sistrum was made for him to give as an offering to the goddess Hathor. We have seen that every carefully thought-out part of the instrument refers to this: the sistrum itself refers to Hathor’s role as the goddess of music, as it is decorated with the head of the goddess, and even its material was most carefully chosen to appeal to her. King Ptolemy I then offered this beautifully crafted instrument to the goddess, in order to appease her and attain her favor. He had his name inscribed upon it, so it would always be clear, to Hathor and anyone else, that he was the one responsible for this great offering.

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