THE GOLDEN LYRE OF UR

The first thing we learnt when Jennifer Sturdy joined us in Horsham for our October lecture was the difference between a harp and a lyre. Jennifer, resplendent in the robes of a Mesopotamian queen, told us about The Gold Lyre of Ur, the story of making a replica of the oldest known stringed instrument, unearthed at Ur in present day Iraq by Leonard Woolley in 1929. Jennifer took us through the history of the instrument and its discovery, and the three years it took to make this stunning replica, using the nearest they could find to the original materials (cedar wood and bitumen from Iraq, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, mother-of pearl from the Persian Gulf – and cow-gut strings from Norfolk!). Jennifer finished her presentation with a recording of the lyre being played, and, as an extra special bonus,  brought with her the replica the same group made of the silver lyre, now in the British Museum.