The Tutankhamun Exhibit
Other Items
Ivory Clappers
Found on the floor of the Annex, these arm-shaped clappers measure some 15.7 cm (6-1/8 in) in length. Holes at the proximal end of each clapper were intended for the insertion of a cord linking the two together in the manner of castanets - though, as tomb scenes apparently show, the noise would have been produced by shaking rather than by controlled percussion. Each arm is rather crudely incised on its polished outer surface with an elongated cartouche associating Queen Tiye with her granddaughter, Meritaten: 'The great royal wife Tiye, may she live; the king's daughter Meritaten'. Precisely why granddaughter and grandmother should have been linked in this way is uncertain. The clappers' presence in the tomb of Tutankhamun is similarly obscure.
