box lyre

A box lyre is a type of stringed musical instrument characterized by a wooden body with a soundboard. Its arms are sometimes hollow extensions of the body. These instruments were prevalent in the ancient Middle East, with large Sumerian box lyres appearing in reliefs as early as the 3rd millennium BCE. They were often ornamented and played upright with the fingers. Later, smaller, asymmetrical lyres became more common, typically played with a plectrum. The Hebrew kinnor was also a box lyre. In medieval Europe, new varieties of box lyres, sometimes called rotta, emerged, and some were later adapted to be played with a bow.1