Dulcimer

Dulcimer, a musical instrument resembling a flat box, with sounding-board and bridges, across which run wires tuned by pegs at the sides, and played on by striking the wires with a small piece of wood in each hand, or more usually with two cork-headed hammers. The dulcimer in its simplest shape (closely akin to the psaltery, which, instead of standing on a table or on legs of its own, was carried in the hand like a harp) is one of the most ancient of instruments, appearing in Assyrian sculptures; and may be regarded as the ancestor of the piano. The cimbalom of Hungarian bands is essentially a dulcimer.