Small single-headed frame drums of Near Eastern origin, consisting of a shallow ring, usually of wood, covered on one side with a stretched membrane of parchment, animal skin, or plastic, usually furnished with jingling metal discs or small bells called jingles placed in slots or otherwise attached around the circumference. It is played by shaking, striking with the knuckles, or drawing the fingers across the parchment. The earlier name for this instrument, as mentioned in translations of the Bible, was "timbrel."
