Lyre.

Lyre. one of the oldest forms of stringed instrument. It was introduced into Egypt from Palestine during the 18th dynasty, and was common among the Greeks even in the heroic times. Most of the barbarians who invaded the Roman empire were acquainted with the lyre, and must have independently attained the knowledge of it. The common Greek lyre was made of a tortoiseshell, with blocks inside, similar to those used in a violin, to modify the strain of the strings. The shell was covered with bull's hide, and two horns were fastened to one side of it, one horn at each extremity of the side. A piece of wood served as a crosspiece, and was fastened from the tip of one horn to the tip of the other. Seven strings of gut were tied to the crosspiece, the other ends being secured at the bottom of the shell. Pegs for the strings were added to the crosspiece by the later Greeks, likewise a bridge to prevent the strings touching the shell, and two sound-holes cut in the shell in order to increase its resonance. The lyre, unlike the lute, cannot be stopped by the fingers and its sounds thereby multiplied. Its sounds can be no more in number than its strings. Consequently, since the rise of the modern scale, the lyre, whose strings were never more than seven or eight in number, has been unable to cope with the growing exigencies of an intricate music, and has fallen into complete desuetude.