Summary The castanets are a musical percussion instrument, wood, known by the Phoenicians three thousand years ago. Other peoples, like the Egyptians, used the cymbals, which are a percussion instrument similar. Through trade, they expanded by the Mediterranean countries such as Croatia today, or southern Italy; although Spain is the country that has best preserved the castanets, developing its use, one of the national instruments, as well as the Spanish flamenco guitar, classical or.