Zurna

Wind instrument played in central Eurasia Musician playing the zurna. The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian, Assyrian and Kurdish folk music. Kurdish dance group (playing the Zirnê) Karana, one of the ancient Iranian musical instruments, 6th century BC, Persepolis Museum. Etymology and terminology Turkish folk musician playing zurna, 2016 A folk etymology explains that the name is derived from Persian "سرنای" (surnāy), composed of "سور" (sūr) meaning "banquet, feast", and نای (nāy) meaning "reed, pipe". The term is attested in the oldest Turkic records, as "suruna" in the 12th and 13th century Codex Cumanicus (CCM fol. 45a). Zurna has also been suggested as a possible borrowing from Hittite or Luwian into the Armenian language, where Arm. զուռնա zuṙna is compared to Luwian zurni "horn". Origins The zurna was said to originate from Central Asia and ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia). Images of the zurna are visible in stone reliefs and artwork by the Hittites, who were an ancient em