semsemiya* | Photographer: Gisela Croon | Rights management: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 International
The body shell is a metal bowl. Skin strap tension of the membrane against a tension ring of the same material resting on the outside. A very long yoke, towards which the longitudinal arms diverge sharply. Five front pegs modelled on European pegs in the square section of the bar. Five wire strings. A high bridge with string guide notches in the centre of the membrane. The lower tailpiece is an iron ring to which the strings are tied. This is striped over the longitudinal arm tips which are brought together on the lower edge of the bowl and pierce the membrane a second time. Two large, round membrane openings to the left and right of the concealed longitudinal arm. A leather plectrum. Ring-shaped ivory, mother-of-pearl and wood inlays on the yoke bars. The crossbar is carved. An Arabic inscription (chiselling) on the outside of the bowl base: "al-fann al-sacbl al-bür sa'idl" ('The folk art, Port Said.'). "Port Said, Canal Zone". from Ulrich Wegner: Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente, Staatliche Museen Berlin - SPK, 1984 (Appendix Object Catalogue)
