‘ûd (oud)

This half-pear shaped ‘ūd (oud) comprises a round sound box, a soundboard pierced with three sound holes with rosettes in ivory and precious wood, a short neck that is angled back at the pegbox, and eleven nylon strings: five paired ones and a single one. Its back is made entirely from marquetry, in ivory, bone, and precious wood—a motif where six-branch and hexagonal stars alternate, a design already used in Morocco during the Almoravid era (1056–1147)[1].

The ‘ūd belongs to the family of plucked string instruments, that were already represented in classical Egyptian and Roman antiquity, particularly in North Africa[2]. The Arabic term al-‘ūd originally referred to a sprig, a baton, or piece of wood; its meaning shifted slightly and eventually came to designate a musical instrument. The ‘ūd as we know it today, is probably derived from an Iranian instrument, the barbat. From the ninth century onwards, it was considered in the Arab world to be the instrument par excellence. It was represented many times in Islamic art: on the frieze of the small western Fatimid palace in Cairo[3], on a Maghrebian miniature of a manuscript de Bayād wa Riyād[4], and again on the Pyxis of al-Mughīra, dated 968[5].

There are many types of ‘ūd. The instrument’s appearance changed between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Ziryab, a famous musician from Baghdad, introduced the ‘ūd in Andalusia where he emigrated in 822. He is traditionally credited with adding a fifth double string to the existing four, but this innovation didn’t appear until much later in Andalusian iconography. On the ‘ūd of Essaouira, a sixth string, the only single one, was used to play the bass notes, and allowed for a greater playing range. Today it is often used on modern Turkish, Iraqi, and Maghrebian ‘ūds. It is not recorded when this innovation was introduced, but already in the nineteenth century there were ‘ūds with six double strings.

The ‘ūd was sometimes represented in Christian Spanish miniatures, like in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, dating from around 1280[6]. It is also the ancestor of the Western lute, whose name comes from the Arabic. The difference between ‘ūds and lutes took place slowly, notably during the fourteenth century, at the time of the ars nova. The lute, which began to be represented in iconography, went through a number of major changes, such as the addition of frets. There are no representations of fretless lutes.

While the lute disappeared in Europe during the eighteenth century, the ‘ūd is still widely used throughout the Mediterranean world. Certain components of the ‘ūd have been inspired by the Christian world, like the carved rosette.

[2] Roman bronze in the shape of a lute, second to third century, the Archaeological Museum, Rabat, B.753.

[3] Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo. 

[4] Bayād wa Riyād, thirteenth century, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, the Vatican, Vat. Ar. 368.

[5] Paris, the Louvre Museum, OA 4068

[6] The Bibliothèque San Lorenzo, Escurial, Madrid ms J.b. 2., fol. 54.