Discover an instrument from Ancient Egypt
These lutes are modern reconstructions of two surviving instruments from the early 18th Dynasty. Reconstructed from complete archaeological finds by Marco Sciascia, they respect evidence from Thebes (modern day Luxor). No tampering is necessary to make this 3500-year-old evidence acceptable: these are elegant, highly playable instruments for contemporary musicians and learners.
They offer a rare opportunity to connect with the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, engaging directly with two types of lute that enjoyed enduring popularity and are astonishingly well-preserved. They give explorers of music and the Ancient Egyptian language solid evidence for artistic creativity and scholarly research. Thousands of songs survive on papyri. Perhaps most of them were originally accompanied by lutes like these.
Both sizes are approachable for complete beginners and musicians of any background. If you are a trained plectrum player, you may find the evidence challenging! A large number of paintings and carvings show the body of the lute resting on top of the strumming forearm (see images below). The conventional playing position in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was radically different to the modern norm. Together with the chunky plectrum, this over-arm position changes how and what you play, impacting style and technique.
But the instrument does not care how you play it. Whether you choose to stay in familiar territory, or to broach new stylistic horizons as a historical sleuth or avant-garde composer, these lutes respond equally well.
Performances on our lutes
Here are three live performances without amplification, allowing you to judge the loudness and sound quality of Marco Sciascia’s lutes in relation to other instruments. The resin replica tortoiseshell of the treble lute, and the hollowed-out wooden body of the bass lute, both have an acoustic efficiency that demonstrate Marco’s brilliance as a luthier. He trusts and respects the ancient makers, diligently extracting generations of knowledge locked in museum originals, skilfully noticing the tiny details that matter!
Here is Marco playing the 2-string treble lute with Mirco Mungari on frame drum in a concert at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. This was part of the 13th Symposium of the International Study Group for Music Archaeology, Vienna, November 2025.
Above, Marco is playing the 3-string bass lute with Barnaby playing a reconstruction of the “Maket” doublepipe, now in Berlin. Below, they combine the 2-string treble lute with a doublepipe that pairs two of the fifteen reed-pipes now in Turin. Both duets were recorded in the Turin Egyptian Museum, July 2025.
Description
The body of the treble lute is a replica tortoise shell in resin; the body of the bass lute is hollowed out from a solid block of poplar. Both have goat skin stretched over the body, a neck of maple wood, and natural hemp tuning tassles. Gut frets are optional: they can be supplied if customers wish, or added later using unvarnished gut (to tie the frets on, follow this video).
The strings can be synthetic or natural gut. The tuning is very much your choice. In the videos above, the treble lute is tuned B2–F♯3 and the bass lute D2–A2–D3, but these tunings are purely conjectural. Each string supports a wide pitch range depending on diameter and tension. The many surviving reed-pipes suggest that there were many tunings.
Evidence base
These lutes are meticulous reconstructions of two archaeological finds from Thebes (modern day Luxor), now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Both are likely to have been made around 1479 BCE. The 2-string treble lute (sometimes called the “dancer’s lute”, CG 69420) was found in Deir el-Medina, Tomb 1389; this dates from the early part of the 18th Dynasty, up to about the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1550–c. 1479 BCE). The 3-string Bass Lute (the “Harmose lute”, CG 69421) was found about a mile nearer the Valley of the Kings, in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. It was buried beside the coffin of a prominent singer, Harmose, who lived under the joint reign of Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III (c. 1479–1458 BCE). Harmose had the honour of being laid to rest among nobles, directly below the magnificent tomb of his patron Senenmut, Hatshepsut’s chief architect.
Both lutes were found with plectrums. These are wooden, with a hole for a string that tied them to the neck. Compared to a modern guitar pick, ancient Egyptian plectrums are longer, thicker, and broader at the tip. The bass lute was also equipped with frets.
There is a wealth of iconography which can guide not only aspects of production (such as where to tie the plectrum) but also how to hold the lute. Guitarists, you may not like what you see! The conventional playing position has the body of the lute resting in the nook of the player’s elbow, on top of the picking forearm. As well as being played by singers, the iconography reveals that these lutes were played in mixed ensembles, not only with other sizes of lute but with harp, lyre, and doublepipe.
Bibliography
Marco Sciascia is a maker of musical instruments based on archaeological remains and historical sources. With a background in goldsmithing, he began combining research with modern lutherie in the early 2000s to develop playable reconstructions that balance historical accuracy with musical usability, meeting the needs of both scholars and performers. His work has been featured in the European Music Archaeology Project, and he has collaborated with major museums and institutions, including the British Museum, Turin Egyptian Museum, and Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Barnaby Brown is a performer-researcher whose work bridges scholarship, instrument reconstruction, and creative practice. Internationally recognised for reviving ancient polyphonic pipes, he combines deep historical knowledge with a passion for performance. His collaborations span universities, conservatoires, and leading ensembles, collectively figuring out how to sing ancient literature in ways that respect evidence and produce compelling results. A co-founder of Lotos Lab, he creates projects that bring ancient soundscapes to life, balancing rigorous research with imaginative artistry.