The tanbūra or "

Kissar The ''kissar'' (also spelled ''kissir''), tanbour or gytarah barbaryeh is the traditional Nubian lyre, still in use in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. It consists of a body having instead of the traditional tortoise-shell back, a shallow, round bow ...

" is a

bowl lyre A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve. ...

of East Africa and the Middle East. Tanbūra traces its etymology to the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowa ...

'' via the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''tunbur'' (), though this term refers to long-necked lutes. The instrument probably originated in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

and the

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 ...

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

and is used in the '' Fann At-Tanbura'' in the Persian Gulf Arab States. It also plays an important role in ''

zār In the cultures of the Horn of Africa and adjacent regions of the Middle East, ''Zār'' (, ) is the term for a demon or spirit assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness. The so-called ''zār'' ritual or ' ...

'' rituals. The tanbūra is a member of a family of lyres which can be found, with variations, in many areas throughout East Africa: compare the Ugandan

Endongo The ''endongo'' is a musical instrument, considered the List of national instruments (music), national instrument of the Baganda people of Uganda. It is a member of a family of lyres which can be found, with variations, in many areas throughout Ea ...

and Kenya

Nyatiti The nyatiti is a five to eight-stringed plucked bowl yoke lute from Kenya. It is a classical instrument played by the Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Luo people of Western Kenya, specifically in the Siaya region south of Kisumu. It is about two to th ...

. According to ethnomusicologist Christian Poché, the Sudanese style of lyre has been played throughout "

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

North Yemen North Yemen () is a term used to describe the Kingdom of Yemen (1918-1962), the Yemen Arab Republic (1962-1990), and the regimes that preceded them and exercised sovereignty over that region of Yemen. Its capital was Sanaa from 1918 to 1948 an ...

Southern Iraq The geography of Iraq is diverse and falls into five main regions: the desert (west of the Euphrates), Upper Mesopotamia (between the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers), the northern highlands of Iraq, Lower Mesopotamia, and the alluvial plain ...

and the Gulf States." In Sudan, the ''tanbūra'' (or ''tanbur'') is also called a ''rabāba''. The North Sudanese version is typically five-stringed with a larger size, while the ones from the South and the Nuba hills usually have six strings and are smaller in size. They're decorated with colorful beads, tassels, charms, cowrie shells, plastic fruit, and small mirrors. The ''rabāba'' player is called a ''sanjak,'' and plays it by holding it with his left hand, aided by the support of a strap. The fingers (and in the case of six-stringed versions, palm) of the left hand rest on the strings from behind. The right holds a plectrum made of bull's horn called a ''garin.'' Sound is made by plucking strings with the plectrum and moving fingers to create "free strings" (strings with fingers pressed against them have their sound dampened). The bottom rests on the ground, legs, or arm depending on size (here from biggest to smallest).

References

External links

Celebrating the Sudanese lyre: a special performance
Video by the British Museum on

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Webpage on ''tanbura'' and other string instruments from Oman Centre for Traditional Music

Sudanese lyre audio samples
Lyres Arabic musical instruments Bahraini musical instruments Kuwaiti musical instruments Omani musical instruments Qatari musical instruments Somalian musical instruments Djiboutian musical instruments Emirati musical instruments Sudanese musical instruments Sacred musical instruments {{lyre-stub

See also

References

External links