Tympanum (hand drum)

In ancient Greece and Rome, the tympanon (τύμπανον) or tympanum, was a type of frame drum or tambourine. It was circular, shallow, and beaten with the palm of the hand or a stick. Some representations show decorations or zill-like objects around the rim. The instrument was played by worshippers in the rites of Dionysus, Cybele, and Sabazius.^[1]

The instrument came to Rome from Greece and the Near East, probably in association with the cult of Cybele.^[2] The first depiction in Greek art appears in the 8th century BC, on a bronze votive disc found in a cave on Crete that was a cult site for Zeus.^[3]^[4]

^ Matthew Dillon (2002). Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion. Routledge. p. 371.
^ Lynn E. Roller (1999). In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele. University of California Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780520210240.
^ Roller, In Search of God the Mother, p. 173.
^ John Boardman (1984). The Cambridge Ancient History Plates to Volume III. Cambridge University Press. pp. 210–211.

[1] Matthew Dillon (2002). Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion. Routledge. p. 371.

[2] Lynn E. Roller (1999). In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele. University of California Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780520210240.

[3] Roller, In Search of God the Mother, p. 173.

[4] John Boardman (1984). The Cambridge Ancient History Plates to Volume III. Cambridge University Press. pp. 210–211.

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