Lyres All Over The World

The tanbura was the most common form of the lyre all over the world, –it existed as the major form of the lyre in the Arabian peninsula, in Somalia, and in Djibouti. It was also played along other forms of the lyre in Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, and Yemen. Below are a list of other places where forms of the lute are popular.

Egypt – The kissar, and simsimiyya, along with the popular tanbura, were played not only by the Egyptians, but later were played by Yemen, and Sudan.
England – In England, the popular, and perhaps predecessor to the Welsh crwth lyre, was the rote.
Estonia – In Estonia, the talharpa lyre was invented and named independently, though it spread elsewhere.
Ethiopia – Ethiopia had a few different kinds of independently developed original lyre, the begena, dita, and krar.
Finland – In Finland, the primary lyre instrument was the Jouhikko.
Greece – Even Greece had different styles of the lyre, such as the barbiton, kithara, and Cretan lira.
Iraq – In Iraq, the tanbura was secondary to these other forms of lyre: the sammu, zami, and zinar.
Israel – Israel’s primary form of the lyre instrument was the kinnor.
Kenya – In Kenya, Africa, other original lyres were developed; the kibugander, litungu, nyatiti, and obokano.
Norway – The Giga lyre was played by the Norse, and other Teutonic cultures.
Scotland – Similar in name, if not in form to the Norse “Giga”, the Gue was developed and adapted by the Scottish.
Sudan – Along with the tanbura, the people of Sudan also played the kissar.
Tanzania – Tanzania’s primary lyre instrument was the litungu.
Uganda -  In Uganda, on the African continent, the lyres player were endongo, ntongoli, which were developed independent of the Greco-Roman lyre.
Wales – In Wales, the crwth and latest known form of the “modern lyre” was played using a bow, before the violin became a more popular instrument.
Yemen – In Yemen, the simsimiyya was played, along with the globally popular tanbura, as noted above.