The tanbūra or "Kissar" is a bowl lyre of East Africa and the Middle East. Tanbūra traces its etymology to the Persian tanbur via the Arabic tunbur (طنبور), though this term refers to long-necked lutes. The instrument probably originated in Upper Egypt and the Sudan in Nubia and is used in the Fann At-Tanbura in the Persian Gulf Arab States. It also plays an important role in zār rituals.
The tanbūra is a member of a family of lyres which can be found, with variations, in many areas throughout East Africa: compare the Ugandan Endongo and Kenya Nyatiti. According to ethnomusicologist Christian Poché, the Sudanese style of lyre has been played throughout "Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, North Yemen, Southern Iraq and the Gulf States."
