Editing Cymbal (section)

===Central Asia and Iran===
[[File:Beckenpaar Mesopotamien Slg Ebnöther.jpg|thumb|[[Mesopotamia]]n cymbals from the 3rd millennium B.C. show that the large cymbal dates back into antiquity.]]

The [[Shahnameh]] (circa 977 and 1010 CE) mentions the use of cymbals at least 14 times in its text, most in the context of creating a loud din in war, to frighten the enemy or to celebrate. The Persian word is ''sanj'' or ''senj'' ({{lang|fa|سنج}}), but the Shahnameh does not claim these to be Persian in origin. Several times it calls then "Indian cymbals." Other adjectives to describe them include "golden" and "brass," and to play them is to "clash" them.<ref name=Penguin>{{cite book |author=[[Ferdowsi|Abolqasem Ferdowski]] |translator=Dick Davis |title=[[Shahnameh]] |publisher=Penguin Books |place=New York |date=2016 |isbn=9781101993231 |section=Ardeshir’s War Against Ardavan; Ardavan Is Killed |quote=and the columns resounded with the blare of trumpets and bugles, the jangling of bells, and the clashing of Indian cymbals.}}</ref>

A different form is called ''sanj angshati'' ({{lang|fa|سنج انگشتی}}), these are [[zill]].

==== Ashura ceremony ====
Besides the original use in war, another use in Persian culture was the [[Ashura]] ceremony. 
Originally in the ceremony, two pieces of stone were beaten on the sides of the mourner with special movements accompanied by a lamentation song. This has been replaced by beating ''Karbzani'' or ''Karebzani'' and playing ''sanj ''and [[Ratchet (instrument)|ratchets]]. Cities where this has been performed include [[Lahijan]] and Aran of Kashan, as well as [[Semnan (city)|Semnan]] and [[Sabzevar]].

====Etymology====
:''See [[Zang (bell)#Word spread|Zang]]''
All theories about the [[etymology]] of the word Sanj, identify it as a [[Middle-Persian|Pahlavi]] word. By some accounts means ''weight''; and it is possible that the original term was ''sanjkūb'' meaning ”striking weights” [against each other].<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacKenzie |first1=D.N. |title=A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/concisepahlavidi00mack |url-access=limited |date=1971 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |isbn=9780197135594 |page=[https://archive.org/details/concisepahlavidi00mack/page/n95 74]}}</ref> By some accounts the word is reform version of "[[Zang (bell)|Zang]]" (bell), referring to its bell-shaped plate.