The barbiton, or barbitos (Gr: βάρβιτον or βάρβιτος; Lat. barbitus), is an ancient stringed instrument connected to the lyre. It is mentioned in writings from ancient Greece and Rome.

The Greek version of the barbiton was a lower-pitched instrument similar to the kithara and was part of the zither family. Later, the same name was used for another instrument called the barbat, which is a type of lute.

Error in the use of names

The barbat, also called the barbud, was incorrectly translated into Latin as "barbiton" during the late Middle Ages. This mistake became common in English and other European languages over time. The barbat is a lute-family instrument created in Persia, while the barbiton, a type of bass kithara, originated in Greek-speaking western Anatolia. The barbiton was popular in that region and later spread throughout the Aegean area.

During the late Middle Ages, European musicians were unfamiliar with both instruments because they had not been used in Europe since the mid-Imperial period until the end of the Roman Empire. Because of this, the error was not noticed or corrected. The mistake continued to be repeated in later writings based on earlier incorrect texts.

Descriptions of the Ancient Greek barbiton

The barbiton (also called the bass kithara) was uncommon in the Hellenic world and was seen as unusual. It was more commonly used in Anatolia and the eastern Aegean. There are fewer descriptions of the barbiton compared to the well-known kithara. Some images of the barbiton on painted vases were created by artists who may not have seen the instrument in person. Because of this, music experts struggle to understand the limited information from ancient texts, vase paintings, and statues.

• A woman playing a barbiton, Greek, Attic, 490–480 BC, terracotta, red-figure technique – Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University
• A woman with a barbiton, from a red-figure amphora, Greece, c. 460–450 B.C. The larger instrument would produce deeper notes than a smaller lyre (seen hanging above the woman).
• A lyra or barbitos from the Tomb of the Diver, 5th century BCE.
• Another lyra or barbitos from the Tomb of the Diver, 5th century BCE.
• A barbitos in Nordisk familjebok (1904–1926). This lyre has features not shown in ancient artwork of lyres, especially the large circular soundhole.

The Sicilian poet Theocritus (xvi. 45) described the barbiton as an instrument with many strings, more than seven. The Greeks considered seven strings to be a perfect number, matching the standard number on the kithara.

Anacreon, a poet from Teos in Asia Minor, wrote that his barbiton "only gives out erotic tones." This could be a metaphor, but it might also refer to the instrument being tuned to a specific Greek musical scale called Iastian.

Pollux called the barbiton a barymite instrument, named from the Greek words barys ("heavy") and mitos ("string"). This name describes an instrument that produces very deep sounds. The barbiton’s larger soundbox compared to the kithara or phorminx (a smaller folk lyre) helped create these deep tones. Its strings were twice as long as those on the phorminx, making the sound about an octave lower.

Pindar (in Athenaeus xiv. p. 635) mentions that Terpander introduced the barbiton to Greece. He also notes that one could magadize, meaning to play two parts at an octave interval on two instruments.

Although used in Asia Minor, Italy, Sicily, and Greece, the barbiton was not widely loved by ancient Greeks. It was seen as a foreign instrument preferred by people with unusual artistic tastes. It was no longer used in the time of Aristotle but was later revived by the Romans. The word barbiton was sometimes used to describe the kithara or lyre.

Despite limited information, scholars can identify the barbiton as a deep-toned instrument with a pitch range of at least two octaves. It shared enough features with the lyra and kithara to be grouped as related instruments.

Barbat

A later instrument, not related to others, was described by Persians and Arabs as a type of rebab, lute, or chelys-lyre. It first entered Europe through Asia Minor via Greece, and later reached Spain through the Moors. During the 14th century, the Moors called it al-barbet.

At some unknown time, the barbat changed in shape to resemble a large lute. The barbat is sometimes incorrectly called “barbiton,” but it is not the same as the instrument shown in Greek vase paintings.

The barbat was a type of rebab, a bass instrument, differing only in size and number of strings. This matches what is known about how Persians and Arabs named musical instruments—small changes in design often led to new names.

The term barbud, used for the barbiton, is said to come from a famous musician who lived during the time of Chosroes II (590–628 CE). This musician was known for playing the instrument. In a 1911 German translation of writings, Schlesinger listed barbut (German: barbiton) and rubāb (German: laute) as names for two separate Persian instruments. This shows that the barbut and rubab were distinct instruments in Persian culture as late as 1874.

Before the rebab became a bowed instrument, it and the lute had similar features: curved backs, pear-shaped bodies, joined necks, and gut strings originally plucked by fingers.

The Greek barbiton, though it changed over time, kept the features of the Greek kithara/lyra family. These instruments had strings that were strummed or plucked, unlike the rebab, which was played with a bow when it entered Europe.

The instrument called barbiton was known in the early 16th century and during the 17th century. It resembled a theorbo or bass-lute but had only one neck, bent at a right angle to form the head. Robert Fludd described and illustrated it, calling it a “barbiton” and linking it to Greek and Roman instruments. This theorbo/barbiton had nine pairs of gut strings, each pair in unison.

Eighteenth-century dictionaries used Fludd’s term “barbiton.” G. B. Doni described the barbiton as Barbitos seu major chelys italice tiorba, connecting it to lyres, citharas, and tortoiseshell instruments. In the 18th century, Claude Perrault wrote that “the moderns call our lute barbiton.” Constantijn Huygens noted that he learned to play the “barbiton” in a few weeks but took two years to learn the cittern.

Modern sound reconstruction

The Greek barbitos is part of the Lost Sounds Orchestra, along with other ancient instruments such as the epigonion, the salpinx, the aulos, and the syrinx. The ASTRA project is recreating the sounds of these instruments. To recreate the barbitos sounds, ASTRA uses a method called physical modeling synthesis. Because this process is complex, ASTRA uses grid computing, which allows computers across Europe to work together to model the sounds.

Mysterious third, unnamed, mixed lyre / rebab

Musicologist Kathleen Schlesinger discovered a stringed instrument with no known name that has features similar to both a lyre and a rebab. It appears in at least four ancient sculptures. She writes: