Spike lute; ektar

Ektar, one-stringed spike lute. The wooden resonator is hemispherical, with a flattened back. The sound table is of skin, nailed to the edge of the resonator with brass studs. The long wooden neck is painted black and decorated with strips of brass, with a single front-entrant peg. There is one string of steel wire, which passes through a small hole in the triangular wooden bridge.