kissarn.

1864 C. Engel Music Most Anc. Nations ii. 41 A kissar from Abyssinia..is so far different from the common Nubian kissar, that its body is square, without sounding~holes.

1864 C. Engel Music Most Anc. Nations iv. 158 The songs with the kissar accompaniment..are called by the Nubians ghouna.

1941 J. Pulver tr. Panum Stringed Instruments Middle Ages 12 Engel..points to the striking likeness existing between the type of lyre depicted here and the lyre which, under the name of Kissar, is still used by several North African peoples.

1964 S. Marcuse Musical Instruments 291/1 Kissar (Gk. kithara), bowl lyre of E. Africa, a survival of the ancient Gk. lyra, still found in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda. The body is shallow, of wood, covered with a sheepskin membrane laced to the back of the body.