Drum

Small hyperboloid drum with a flared resonance box at the top, where a membrane would be housed; incoming edge and concave body. The base, like a tall foot, is cylindrical and somewhat wider at the bottom, thinning as it rises.

It is made with calcareous paste of a whitish hue and fine degreasing with caliche inclusions and vacuoles, in oxidizing firing. Morphologically, these ceramic pieces are made with the same type of paste that is used for saraqusti tableware.

It has a caliche chip and a missing straw print on the exterior wall. This piece is preserved complete.

Given its size, it is reasonable to think that it could be intended as a toy.

The absence of ceramic additions or marks to facilitate the tension of the head with strings would indicate that the skin would be glued to the soundboard.

The darbuka is a general term for a type of simple cup and head drum made of ceramic, wood or metal, and, today, fiberglass. It is a very common instrument both in rural areas and for urban musical practices throughout the Arab world and the Islamic Middle East. The most common execution technique is under the arm or on the legs.

According to the research of Aránzazu Mendívil, this piece has parallels in Zaragoza, on Paseo de la Independencia and C/ San Pablo; in Madrid, C/ Ang. of the Young Men; in Lérida, Valencia and Córdoba. Also in Tunisia.