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The jury is still out on the issue of what these lutes were actually called. For sometime, it was thought that the Egyptian term for lute was nefer (literally, "beauty") because the hieroglyph for that word looks like the instrument. New findings have proved this interpretation wrong. Danish Egyptologist Dr. Lise Manniche in her book, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt (British Museum Press, 1991), states, "Its Egyptian name is not established beyond doubt, although there are two possible candidates. The word gngnti is suggested by its similarity with the name of a modern African instrument, but also appears only at a late date in Egyptian history. The word nth might also be considered; it occurs in a New Kingdom text describing frivolous music-making, a context in which the lute would fit perfectly."
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