The left unique fragment of a sistrum is a puzzling amulet. A vulture with outstretched wings protects a standing falcon. Sistra are often topped by cats, the fetish animal of the Bastet music goddess. A vulture protecting a falcon has an amuletic parallel (see right below). The Horus falcon usually protects the king. Conversely, this scene may represent the goddess Nekhbet protecting the pharaoh as a living Horus?1
Pale turquoise glazed sistrum, handle broken
H 4.6, W 2.1, T 1.4 Late Period © 2021 Musée
du Louvre/Antiquités égyptiennes #AF 2745
Glazed composition
L 6.8, H 4.2, W 3.0 Late Period,
7th-5th century BCE
The Israel Museum #97.63.142
References
1None, Unpublished and uninterpreted amulets