“No one returns, and no one lives again.”
— Inscription on the Leiden Lyre

This is a replica of the Leiden Lyre, one of the most significant surviving examples of ancient Egyptian lyres, dating to 1550–1350 BCE, at the dawn of the New Kingdom, an era during which ancient Egypt stood at the height of its power and cultural influence.

Egyptian box lyres appear in ancient depictions being played in banquet ensembles. She features a rectangular soundbox, often with a small carved notch along the upper edge to accommodate the player’s wrist, two arms of unequal length inserted through the upper edge of the body, and a yoke set at a slight angle. Surviving archaeological examples indicate between 6 and 10 strings.

Including the Leiden instrument, only six lyres of this type, often referred to as “thin lyres,” have survived, providing direct evidence of their construction. Two of these are currently housed in the Louvre Museum. The LUTHIEROS Leiden Lyre is based primarily on the archaeological instrument preserved for nearly two centuries in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden (the Netherlands). Where the Leiden original presents uncertainties due to damage and later restorations, the remaining surviving lyres were carefully studied to inform a balanced and historically responsible reconstruction.

The LUTHIEROS Leiden Lyre follows the structural principles documented in the original instrument and related archaeological finds. At the same time, she has been carefully refined to serve the modern musician. These refinements include subtle adjustments to the internal geometry of the soundbox, along with the thoughtful selection of tonewoods that respect the historical aesthetic while improving acoustic response, allowing the instrument to project clarity, warmth, and depth.

Available with 8 or 10 strings, the LUTHIEROS Leiden Lyre offers flexibility between historically grounded configurations and expanded musical range for contemporary performance. This thin lyre produces an ancient-like sound with remarkable projection for her size, rich textures, and a distinctive timbre shaped by her compact dimensions and angled geometry. When played with a plectrum, and the fingers of the left hand fanned behind the strings as depicted in tomb scenes, the instrument generates a percussive yet harmonically rich texture. This technique is still echoed in Nubian lyre traditions of Upper Egypt and Sudan.

Both the 8- and 10-string versions provide a chromatic range spanning a full octave. With harmonics and hroes playing techniques, the instrument unfolds well beyond its natural range, reaching three to four octaves and allowing the performance of all accidentals.

Inscription and Cultural Context

The original Leiden instrument bears a short hieratic inscription written directly on the body of the lyre. The text is a festive banquet poem closely related to the tradition of Egyptian harpist songs. It invites the listener to rejoice, to embrace the present day, and to remember the transience of life.

Oh ye who are anointed with ointment,
great and young!
Rejoice!

Come, follow a fortunate day!
No one returns, and no one lives again.

Scholarly analysis indicates that while the instrument itself belongs to the New Kingdom (16th to 11th century BCE), the inscription was likely written during the Graeco-Roman period, on an instrument that was already almost a thousand years old. For this reason, we have chosen not to reproduce the inscription on our reconstruction, preserving the instrument in its earlier historical phase.

This layered history gives the Leiden Lyre a distinctive dimension: she is not only a reconstruction of a New Kingdom instrument, but also a witness to continuity, restoration, and transmission within Egyptian musical culture.