CYMBAL. — From the Greek κόμβαλον, Latin cymbalum. A very ancient instrument, most probably of Oriental origin, consisting of two round, flat or convex metal plates struck against one another; or of a kind of one-headed tambourine, with or without jingles, struck by the player’s hand.
The cymbalistae held it by means of handles or ribbons and used it chiefly to accompany dancing, movements, or choral accents. It may have been used in the Jewish liturgy; certainly by the fifth century it was already part of the Greek liturgy, as attested by a fragment of Pindar and several bronze specimens. Subsequently it perhaps assumed a symbolic significance in rites and mysteries, and its representation became a frequent decorative element in mural painting.