The ''kissar'' (also spelled ''kissir''), tanbour or gytarah barbaryeh is the traditional Nubian

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

, still in use in Egypt,

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. It consists of a body having instead of the traditional

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

-shell back, a shallow, round bowl of wood, covered with a soundboard of sheepskin, in which are two small round sound-holes. The arms, set through the soundboard at points distant about the third of the diameter from the circumference, have the familiar fan shape. Five gut strings, knotted round the bar and raised from the soundboard by means of a bridge tailpiece similar to that in use on the modern guitar, are plucked by means of a

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

by the right hand for the

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

, while the left hand sometimes twangs some of the strings as a soft

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

accompaniment. File:Frederick Goodall, The Kissar Player.jpg, Egypt, 1859. ''The Kissar Player'',
painting by Frederick Goodall File:النوبي الموسيقي.jpg, Man playing kissar in Egypt The kissar has been a popular instrument in northern Sudan in Nubian and Shaigiya music, but also among the

Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of southern Sudan. The Nuba are made up of 50 various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that ...

and

Beja people The Beja people (, , ) are a Cushitic-speaking peoples, Cushitic Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Eastern Desert, inhabiting a coastal area from southeastern Egypt through eastern Sudan and into northwestern Eritrea. They are descended from ...

.Mahi Ismail. Sudan. 1995. In Sadie, Stanley (ed.) ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', vol. 18. London, Macmillan, pp. 325-331.

References

* {{Arabic musical instruments Nubia Lyres Ethiopian musical instruments Egyptian musical instruments Sudanese musical instruments

See also

References