Turkey
Turkish Folk

Woods, metal, bone
ca. 1980
Length: 39 in; Width: 16 in
Chordophones – Zither

The qanun (kanun) is a plucked trapeziform zither or psaltery of the Middle East, North Africa, and part of Asia.  It is a descendent from Egypt or Syria and is considered a classical instrument of the Arab world and Turkey.  The word quanun, derived ultimately from Ancient Greek, means Law in Arabic, “cannon” in English. In Arabic music, the qanun lays down the law of pitch for other instruments and singers.

This instrument is made of light wood with 72 nylon strings and mother of pearl inlay.  It normally rests on your knees while sitting or squatting and is played by plucking individual strings with one or two fingers or with two tortoise-shell plectra, one attached to the forefinger of each hand.  In the 20th century, the Turks improved the design by adding tuning keys, special metallic levers or latches under each course called mandals.  These small levers allowed the performer to quickly raise or lower the pitch while playing the instrument, which greatly expanded the musical possibilities of this already amazing and versatile instrument.

Ornamental sound holes called kafes of varying shape, size, and number occupy different locations on the soundboard, helping identify the Turkish kanuns compared to the Arabic qanuns.  The strings are attached on the right side to a long bridge resting on fish skin covered windows and extend to the left side tuning pegs.  On the left side, each course of strings passes over a series of small brass levers that are used for making microtonal pitch changes.

Reference: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/500957