African Lyre

I found this many years ago at a large warehouse-type import store in San José, California. Several tribes in central Africa still make these just as they have for over a thousand years. These lyres are very similar to ones depicted in excavated Sumarian and Mesopotamian art and artifacts dating from around 2500 BC.

Some are made with tortoise shells for a soundbox. Some tribes use gourdsj, and others hollow out pieces of wood. The type of soundbox depends on the availability of material at the builder's locale. The skin stretched over the soundbox can be goat, cow, or a hunted animal, like antelope. Strings can be long strands of twisted animal hair or twisted sinews (gut). The strings on my example are more modern. They are strands pulled from old tires. Some of the rubber is still on the strands.

The remainder of the lyre is traditional. The soundbox is a shallow, hollowed out piece of unidentifiable hardwood. The arms and cross member are of the same wood and have simple geometric line carvings. Tuning is by tied on pieces of wood that rotate around the cross member.that the strings are fastened to--just like those on lyres from 2500 BC.