Finger Cymbals-Musical Instruments

Zills or zils (from Turkish zil ‘cymbals’), also called finger cymbals, are small metallic cymbals used in belly dancing and similar performances. They are called sāgāt (‏صاجات‎) in Egypt. They are similar to Tibetan tingsha bells. In Western music, several pairs can be set in a frame to make a tambourine.

Names in other languages include nuqaisāt (after the naqus) in Arabic and used among Berbers, ṣunnūj ṣaghīra in Arabic, Zang-e sarangoshti (Persian, possibly related to the zang), sanj angshati (سنج انگشتی) (Persian, related to Sanj), çeng in Turkish, p’eng chung in Chinese.

History
Zills, or finger cymbals, are part of a family of musical instruments known as clappers. Clappers are musical instruments made of wood, bone, metal, and other substances that are played by being struck against each other. Clappers come in pairs and are often held in the hands, fastened together, or strapped to the performer’s fingers. The clapper family also includes spoons, bones and castanets.

4th century A.D. relief of Greek dancer with cymbals. Roman artwork from Mildenhall Treasure. Modern dancers use varieties of zills, finger cymbals or castanets.
One of the earliest forms of clappers are wooden krotala already present in Greece around 500 BC. Ancient Greek potteries depict men and women celebrating at Dionysian festivals, some of them playing krotala. From known representations, ancient Greeks used metallic cymbals, but they held only one cymbal in each hand and clapped them together to strike them. The finger cymbal practice appears in representations from the Roman Empire period. Examples of mosaics and stone reliefs showing Roman finger cymbal players come from Bulgaria, Italy and Belgium, and are dated between the second and fourth century CE. It is not known whether the finger cymbal practice was continuous or was forgotten and then reinvented much later in the Middle East. At least, it is clear that the tradition of dancers with different types of clappers continued through the Middle Ages. First representations of “modern” finger cymbal players in Egypt and Turkey date from the 18th century at the latest.

Zills are one of the main percussive elements of Middle Eastern belly dancing. The use of zill in belly dancing is particularly present in the Ghawazi, a line of hereditary dancers. Zills are also important in some rituals of Egyptian culture. Finger cymbals are used in the Sufi religious music. They are also used in the zaar, a healing ritual utilizing rhythmic songs and dances meant to soothe Jinn, a form of magically empowered spirit beings. Dancers use the zill to find a rhythm that soothes the spirits, which then becomes the rhythm performed by the ensemble.