Spike fiddle; rebab

Rebab esh-sha'ir (poet's fiddle), spike fiddle. The resonator has a rectangular openwork wooden frame with concave sides, the front and back covered with a white membrane, probably goatskin. Each side of the frame has two circular roses with six pointed stars in their centres. The long octagonal wooden neck has a lathe turned finial. The wooden peg is front entrant, with a lathe turned knob. The string is of twisted horsehair. The neck runs through the body and is joined to a metal spike which passes out of the base of the instrument. The spike is shaped in a series of cuboid blocks, terminating in two sharp prongs. The bridge is missing but there are markings on the table, in black ink, of its position. In the same ink, on the lower right hand quadrant, is the figure: "V.I" (underlined) ('701' in Arabic numerals). The bow is of the same type of wood, with holes at each end into which horsehair is fixed with small wooden blocks.