The
rebab (, variously spelled
rebap,
rabab,
rebeb,
rababa and
rabeba, also known as
jawza or
joza in Iraq) is a type of a bowed
string instrument so named no later than the 8th century and spread via Islamic
trading routes over much of
North Africa, the
Middle East, parts of
Europe, and the
Far East. The bowed variety often has a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground (see first image to the right), and is thus called a
spike fiddle in certain areas, but plucked versions like the
kabuli rebab (sometimes referred to as the
robab or
rubab) also exist.
