Cypriot figurines with cymbals

Cymbals are another percussive instrument that taught children about music at a very young age through the medium of songs and games. It is possible that some of the Ure’s Kamelarga figurines from Cyprus hold cymbals. Do these figurines represent children or adults, women or men, or even divine figures? Their forms are so abstract that we cannot be sure. The Titan goddess Rhea appointed mythic spirits called Kuretes to guard her baby, Zeus, from his father Kronos. Kronos wanted to eat Zeus in order to prevent him from overthrowing him, as had been prophesied. The Kuretes beat their shields together to mask the sound of his crying, according to the Roman poet Ovid. Perhaps this myth evolved from the association of cymbals with children: cymbals and figurines holding them have been found in Greek as well as Cypriote graves.

See more information about one of these figurines on http://uremuseum.org/cgi-bin/ure/uredb.cgi?rec=47.2.33

You can view some of our figurines in 3D on Sketchfab.