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Shell lyre

A round, bowl-shaped instrument body made of wood. Skin strap tension of the top of the body against a tension ring of the same material resting on the underside of the shell. Longitudinal arms diverging towards the crossbar and abutting the lower edge of the shell on the inside of the body. Five strings. Tangle rings that bind the upper string ends together with strips of cloth and old string material. The lower string ends are tied to the end of a loop of skin strap extending from the tension ring to the top. A perforation at the apex of the bowl arch. The long, thin skin plectrum and a thick holding cord made of twisted plant material are attached to the long arms. Two round and four slit-shaped membrane perforations cut in a symmetrical arrangement. Arabic inscription on the top of the body: "tanbüra al-sablh (?) birabäba min kurdufän yi- stacmilühä fl liyall al-'afräh" ("A tanbüra from Kordofan resembling a rabäba. They play it for entertainment at night1.) from Ulrich Wegner: Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente, Staatliche Museen Berlin - SPK, 1984 (Appendix Object Catalogue)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data

Object type
musical instruments
Dimensions
Durchmesser: 25 cm - 26 cm (Korpus)
Objektmaß: 12,5 x 39,1 x 65,4 cm
Material/Technique
Wood, Leather
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III A 493

Provenance and sources

when
19th century (2nd half of the)
where
Sudan [Land]
White Nile [Fluss/Gebiet]

who
Deutsches Gewerbemuseum zu Berlin - Former Possessors

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