里尔琴 lyre
一种弦乐器,有一个带双臂和横木的共振琴身,从共振腔内延伸出来的弦附着在横木上.公元前2000年在苏美尔就有类似里尔琴的乐器.希腊的里尔琴有两种类型：基萨拉琴和里拉琴.后者的琴身是圆的,背面弯曲(常常是一个乌龟壳),琴腹是皮的.它是业余演奏家用的乐器；专业人士使用更为精致的基萨拉琴.在古希腊,里尔琴是阿波罗的一个标志.
lyre
Stringed musical instrument consisting of a resonating body with two arms and a crossbar to which the strings extending from the resonator are attached.
Lyrelike instruments existed in Sumer before 2000 BC.Greek lyres were of two types,the kithara and the lyra.The latter had a rounded body and a curved back
often a tortoiseshell
and a skin belly.It was the instrument of the amateur; professionals used the more elaborate kithara.In ancient Greece the lyre was an attribute of Apollo and symbolized wisdom and moderation.In medieval Europe new varieties of lyre emerged that,like the kithara,were box lyres,although their precise relation to the lyres of Classical antiquity is not known.The lyres of modern East Africa probably reflect ancient diffusion of the instrument via Egypt.