Rabāb

Rabāb (Arab.), Near East name of the *spike fiddle, with small coconut body, divided or membrane belly pierced by a long stick, lateral pegs, and usually 3 strings. Its ancestor, the short lute of ancient Persia, was adopted by the Arabs and became a bowed instr. in or by the 9th c. As a lute, it had a piriform body, membrane belly, sickle-shaped pegbox, and 3–5 strings. When it became a bowed instr. it was called rabāb. It coexisted with the plucked lute, keeping the piriform body but reducing…