In ancient Egypt, the sistrum was both a musical instrument and ritual item, used especially in connection with the cults of the goddesses Hathor and Isis. The rattling sound made by the instrument was meant to evoke that of rustling papyrus marshes, recalling the myth whereby the young god Horus, son of Isis, was hidden from his uncle Seth in the marshes of the delta as a child. Sistra were also produced in glazed composition and deposited as votive items in the temples dedicated to these goddesses.

Serabit el-Khadim, in the Sinai peninsula, was an important turquoise mine worked throughout Egyptian history. The miners seem to have come largely from this region rather than the Nile valley; many graffiti were found at the site written in a language now termed ‘Proto-Sinaitic’. In his excavations of 1904-5, Flinders Petrie discovered huge numbers of votive items deposited at the temple of Hathor at the site, mostly dating to the New Kingdom. These were typically small items such as bracelets, plaques, sistra and figurines, usually made of blue-green glazed composition. This turquoise colour was ritually important to Hathor, who amongst many attributes was considered the protective deity of mining regions (one of her many names was ‘Lady of Turquoise’).