The Origin of the Early Harp: An Investigation into Strands of Twisted Thin Skin Strips (Rawhide), World Harp Genealogy, and the Emergence of Stringed Instruments (Based on Experimental Archaeology)

This study investigates the genesis and evolutionary genealogy of the early harp and chordophones through experimental archaeology and organological reconstruction. Grounded in over five decades of practical instrument-making, the author presents a foundational technological breakthrough: the fabrication of archaic strings from spirally cut, twisted raw animal skin strips (rawhide). Using micro-wear stone blade techniques analogous to Upper Paleolithic tool industries (e.g., Qaleh Bozi and Kaldar caves), the paper details workshop protocols, bilateral nail tensioning, shade curing, beeswax friction-coating, and mechanical tension formulas for rawhide strings. Furthermore, the work introduces a comprehensive genealogical diagram (Figure 11) tracing chordophone evolution from the prehistoric musical bow through the 5,400-year-old arched harp of Chogha Mish (Iran), the bovine-headed lyre of Ur, the divergence of necked lutes/tanburs, and the emergence of horizontal boat-shaped harps (Assyrian, Babylonian, Elamite, Pazyryk, Sasanian, down to the Afghan waji harp preserved in the National Museum of Scotland) and vertical angular harps culminating at Taq-e Bostan and the Safavid era.