In ancient Egypt, sistrums were either temple-shaped or had a closed-horseshoe shape. The sistrum was used in the cult of the goddess Hathor and later, as Hathor merged with the maternal and life-giving goddess Isis, use of the sistrum spread with the cult of Isis throughout the Roman Empire. Open-topped, U-shaped sistrums existed by 2500 BC in Sumer and have been excavated near Tbilisi, Georgia. Similar sistrums are played today in the liturgy of the Coptic and Ethiopian churches. They also exist in western Africa, among two American Indian tribes, and as the bamboo shark rattle of Malaysia and Melanesia. “Sistrum” sometimes also refers to a bell glockenspiel.