The sistrum was a musical rattle sympbolising the pacifying role of music and was used in certain rituals, particularly those related to the goddess Hathor. The loose rods, originally fitted across the frame, would have produced rhythmic sounds. The sistrum was also a cult object and symbol of Hathor, and can be seen in Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom onwards, used principally by priests and priestesses, while the king played it in temple rituals - as did the queen from the New Kingdom onwards. Of the two types of sistrum, this is the sesheshat type consisting of papyrus stalk or simple column handle, with frame in the form of a naos or shrine which, from the Middle Kingdom onwards, is supported by heads of Hathor. This remarkably well preserved example shows the beginning of royal titles on each side at the top of the handle, which would have been followed by a royal cartouche