Lyres of Ur

A lyre is a musical instrument that is stringed and has a role projecting from the body. There are two types of lyres: box and bowl. Like their names suggest, the box lyres have a boxlike body and the bowl lyres have a round body with a curved back. The Lyres of Ur are box lyres. They were played in an upright position with the strings plucked with both hands. Because of their positioning in situ it is believed that the lyres were used in burial ceremonies in accompaniment to songs. Each lyre has 11 strings to play on that would produce a buzzing noise that is repeated throughout the song. The musician playing the instrument would repeat the pattern displayed on the lyre. ==The four lyres==

The "Golden Lyre of Ur" or "Bull's Lyre" is the finest lyre, and was given to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Its reconstructed wooden body was damaged due to flooding during the Second Iraqi War; a replica of it is being played as part of a touring ensemble. The mask of the bull is gold. The eyes, hair, and beard are all made of lapis lazuli and the horns are modern. The shape of the lyre is meant to resemble a bull's body. A noticeable difference between the "Great Lyre" and the "Queen's Lyre" is that the "Great Lyre" has a straight forehead whereas the "Queen's Lyre" curves slightly around the brow bone. This panel depicts a figure holding onto a bull's horns above, and animals acting as humans below. The bull head itself likely represents the sun god Utu, who was thought to be able to descend into the underworld. The Penn Museum also holds a silver boat-shaped Lyre. ==Gallery==

File:Bull-headed lyre recovered from the royal cemetery of Ur Iraq 2550-2450 BCE Gold Lapis Lazuli (2).jpg|Head of the "Bull Headed Lyre" File:Lyre detail (Royal Cemetery of Ur).jpg|Plaque from the "Bull Headed Lyre" File:Bull's head of the Queen's lyre from Pu-abi's grave PG 800, the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British Museum, London..JPG|Bull's head of the Queen's lyre from Pu-abi's grave PG 800, the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. British Museum File:Cow's head of the Silver Lyre, from the Great Death Pit at the Royal Cemetery, Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British Museum, London.JPG|Cow's head of the Silver Lyre, from the Great Death Pit at the Royal Cemetery, Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. The British Museum, London File:SumerianBulls.jpg|Master of animals motif in a panel of the soundboard of the "Bull Headed Lyre" File:The gold lyre from the Great Death-Pit, Ur excavations (1900).jpg|The Golden Lyre from Woolley's published record File:Woolley holding the hardened plaster mold of a lyre.jpg|Leonard Woolley holding the hardened plaster mold of the Sumerian Queen's Lyre, 1922 ==See also==