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The "Golden Lyre of Ur" or "Bull's Lyre" is the finest lyre, and was given to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. [10] Its reconstructed wooden body was damaged due to flooding during the Second Iraqi War; [11] [7] a replica of it is being played as part of a touring ensemble. [2]
The tips of the bull's horns are also lapis lazuli, making this the only animal-shaped lyre at Ur to have horns tipped in a separate material. [1] The eyes of the bull are shell and lapis lazuli strung with copper wire. [4] In its dimensions, the bull's head is 40 cm long, 25 cm wide, and 19 cm deep. [5]
Yet another lyre incorporated various materials including wood, shell, lapis lazuli, red stone, silver and gold. The lyres found at Ur often included the representation of animals including a cow, stag, bearded bull, and a calf. Of particular note is the Bull-headed lyre from PG 789, also referred to as the "King's Grave".
The lyres of Ur are bull lyres excavated in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), which date to 2500 BCE and are considered to be the world's oldest surviving stringed instruments. [11] However, older pictorial evidence of bull lyres exist in other parts of Mesopotamia and Elam, including Susa. [10]
Excavation in the old city of Ur in 1929 revealed the Lyres of Ur, instruments similar to the modern harp but in the shape of a bull and with eleven strings. [ 7 ] Standard of Ur mosaic (c. 2600 BC)
These Lyres of Ur include the "Gold Lyre" (Iraq Museum) [124] [122] and the "Bull Headed Lyre" (Penn Museum). [125] The Gold Lyre of Ur now held in the Iraq Museum is a partial reconstruction; the original was destroyed in the looting that followed the US invasion of Baghdad during the second Iraq War. [126] Musicologist Samuel Dorf details the ...
c. 2500 BC - The invention of thin lyres in northern Syria. [7] c. 2500 BC - The invention of thick lyres in Uruk and Susa. [7] c. 2686-2181 BC - The invention of the Sistrum, a musical instrument of the percussion family. [8] c. 2600 BC - The creation of Standard of Ur which includes soundbox of a musical instrument [9] [10]
The number of grave goods that Woolley uncovered in Puabi's tomb was staggering. They included a heavy, golden headdress made of golden leaves, rings and plates; a superb lyre (see Lyres of Ur) complete with a golden and lapis lazuli-encrusted bearded bull's head; a profusion of gold tableware; golden, carnelian, and lapis lazuli cylindrical beads used in extravagant necklaces and belts; a ...