Figure of a Girl Holding a Drum

 

Figure of a Girl Holding a Drum

The barrel-shaped drum may have been introduced to Egypt from the south. Egyptian images often show such drums being played by Nubian or Sudanese soldiers in Egyptian employ. In images dating to before Dynasty XXV (circa 775–653 B.C.), the drummers are always men. This rare three-dimensional image of a female drummer could thus be as early as Dynasty XXV, when women drummers first appeared in reliefs. However, it also has some stylistic paralle...ls with reliefs of the fourth century B.C.

MEDIUM Bronze

•Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 712-305 B.C.E.

DYNASTY XXVI Dynasty to XXXI Dynasty

PERIOD Third Intermediate Period-Macedonian Period

DIMENSIONS Height: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm)

Brooklyn Museum

brooklynmuseum.org