The Lyres of Ur, also called the Harps of Ur, are four string instruments discovered in broken condition at the Royal Cemetery in Ur, Iraq, starting in 1922. These instruments are from the Early Dynastic III Period of Mesopotamia, between about 2550 and 2450 BC, making them the oldest known stringed instruments in the world. After being carefully restored, they are now displayed in museums in Iraq, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Strictly speaking, three lyres and one harp were found, but all are often referred to as lyres. The instrument parts were restored and shared among the museums involved in the excavation. The "Golden Lyre of Ur," also known as the "Bull's Lyre," is in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The British Museum in London holds the "Queen's Lyre" and "Silver Lyre," while the Penn Museum in Philadelphia has the "Bull-Headed Lyre."

In 1929, archaeologists led by British archaeologist Leonard Woolley, working for a joint expedition between the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, discovered the instruments during excavations at the Royal Cemetery in Ur. They found pieces of three lyres and one harp in Ur, which was part of Ancient Mesopotamia and is now modern-day Iraq. These instruments are over 4,500 years old and date to the Early Dynastic III Period (2550–2450 BC). The decorations on the lyres are excellent examples of court art from Mesopotamia during that time.

Leonard Woolley uncovered the lyres among the remains of ten women in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. One skeleton was found lying near a lyre, with a hand positioned where the strings would have been. Woolley quickly used liquid plaster to preserve the fragile wooden frames of the lyres. Although the wood had decayed, some parts were covered in nondecaying materials like gold and silver, allowing them to be recovered.

Lyres

A lyre is a stringed musical instrument with a part called a role attached to its body. There are two types of lyres: box lyres and bowl lyres. As their names suggest, box lyres have a body shaped like a box, while bowl lyres have a round body with a curved back. The Lyres of Ur are box lyres. They were played upright, with the strings plucked using both hands.

Because of where they were found, it is believed that the lyres were used in burial ceremonies to go along with songs. Each lyre has 11 strings that create a buzzing sound that repeats throughout the music. The musician playing the instrument would copy the pattern shown on the lyre.

The four lyres

The "Golden Lyre of Ur," also called the "Bull's Lyre," is the most famous lyre. It was given to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Its wooden body was damaged during the Second Iraqi War because of flooding. A replica of the lyre is now played by a touring musical group. The lyre is named "Golden" because the entire head of the bull is made of gold. The eyes are made of inlaid nacre and lapis lazuli. The beard looks similar to the "Great Lyre" and the "Queen's Lyre." The body of the bull was originally wood, but it did not survive. Its discoverer, Woolley, thought the "Golden Lyre" would have had legs, unlike other lyres.

The "Queen's Lyre" is one of two lyres taken from the grave of Queen Pu-abi. It is 110 centimeters (44 inches) tall and looks similar to the "Great Lyre." The bull's mask is made of gold. The eyes, hair, and beard are made of lapis lazuli, and the horns are modern. The lyre's shape is designed to look like a bull's body. A difference between the "Great Lyre" and the "Queen's Lyre" is that the "Great Lyre" has a straight forehead, while the "Queen's Lyre" has a slightly curved forehead. The "Queen's Lyre" is in the British Museum.

The "Bull Headed Lyre" is 40 centimeters tall, 11 centimeters wide, and 19 centimeters deep. Its shape is meant to resemble a bull's body. The head, face, and horns are covered in gold foil. The hair, beard, and eyes are made of lapis lazuli. Below the head is a front panel made of shell inlay set into bitumen. This panel shows a figure holding a bull's horns above and animals acting like humans below. The bull's head likely represents the sun god Utu, who was believed to travel to the underworld. The lyre is in the Penn Museum in Philadelphia.

The "Silver Lyre" is 110 centimeters (42 inches) tall and 97 centimeters (38 inches) wide. It is one of two silver lyres taken from the "Great Death Pit." Both lyres were made of wood covered in silver sheets attached with small silver nails. The eyes are made of lapis lazuli, and the lyre has narrow borders of lapis lazuli. This lyre is the only one without a beard. Because of its smooth face, some people think it might be a cow instead of a bull. It is in the British Museum.

The Penn Museum also holds a silver boat-shaped lyre.

Gallery

• The head of the "Bull-Headed Lyre"
• A decorative piece from the "Bull-Headed Lyre"
• The bull's head from the Queen's lyre found in Pu-abi's grave, PG 800, in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. British Museum
• The cow's head from the Silver Lyre, discovered in the Great Death Pit at the Royal Cemetery, Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. British Museum, London
• A design showing a person controlling animals on a panel of the soundboard of the "Bull-Headed Lyre"
• The Golden Lyre as recorded by Leonard Woolley
• Leonard Woolley holding a hardened plaster mold of the Sumerian Queen's Lyre, 1922