Hello! Thank you for writing this! For more information about women as the primary percussionists throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, in positions of spiritual leadership, in celebration and ceremony, including the Phoenician influenced area of Ancient Palestine, please see my teacher’s book, “When the Drummers Were Women: a spiritual history of rhythm”. Layne Redmond unearthed all of this vital information. And I can tell that her work has influenced this article. And the sistrum that is mentioned, is a handheld stick with jingles, also used by these ancient women in their processions of ritual and reverie. Later, the jingles ended up on the frame drum, and thus the tambourine was born! Think: Miriam‘s tambourine, the reference to the well of Miriam‘s deep spiritual leadership for her community as they crossed the desert.

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