This essay examines the assemblage and their meaning of grave goods found in a child’s pit grave that was unearthed in 2015 from the Third Intermediate Period settlement at Akoris (Tihna al-Gabal). Based on stratigraphic and typological observations, the grave is dated between the 21^st and 22^nd Dynasties. The deceased was interred with two pairs of hand-shaped wooden clappers under the legs, a round reed “mat” on the chest, and jewellery such as a necklace and an anklet. The accompanying clappers are particularly unique in burials of this period.

It is known that besides being a percussion instrument, hand-shaped clappers had the conceptual function as a symbol of birth and rebirth, which originated in the creation myth of Heliopolis. On the basis of its colour scheme and position on the body, round reed mat could have been regarded as a substitute for a mirror to give the power of rebirth to the deceased. Therefore, the clappers and the reed mat seem to have had the function of helping the deceased’s resurrection in the afterlife.

Another possibility for the presence of the clappers in the grave is that they were identity markers of the dead child, since clappers were not common grave goods even prior to the Third Intermediate Period. New Kingdom tomb scenes sometimes depict musicians accompanied by a young girl who is dancing and is occasionally holding clappers. From this tendency, it is tempting to think that the deceased in the pit grave at Akoris was a musician trainee.