’Ud

Deep pear-shaped body with one soundhole, short neck with fretless fingerboard, and bent-back pegbox with twelve tuning pegs. Although many Uds are highly decorated, this is a particularly intricate example, with delicate parquetry covering the wave-form ribs as well as the back of the neck and the fingerboard. The rose on the front, called a shamsiyya or ‘little sun’ is also very skilfully made using a circular geometric pattern. On the front, a plectrum plate protects the wood from the scratches of a plectrum, traditionally made from an eagle’s feather, which passes over this area when the strings are plucked.