rabāb, Arab fiddle, the earliest known bowed instrument and the parent of the medieval European rebec. It was first mentioned in the 10th century and was prominent in medieval and later Arab music. In medieval times the word rabāb was also a generic term for any bowed instrument.
The rabāb has a membrane belly and, commonly, two or three strings. There is normally no fingerboard, the strings being stopped by the player’s fingers. Body shapes vary. Pear- and boat-shaped rabābs were particularly common and influenced the rebec. Flat, round, trapezoidal, and rectangular bodies are also found. Throughout the Middle East and Africa, as well as Central Asia, northern India, and Southeast Asia, the word rabāb, rebab, or other derivative name refers to a spike fiddle—i.e., one that has a small round or cylindrical body and appears skewered by a narrow neck.
The rabāb reached Europe by two routes. A pear-shaped variety was adopted in the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century as the lira, spreading westward and possibly giving rise to the medieval fiddle. A boat-shaped variety, still played in northern Africa, was introduced by the Arabs to Spain in the 11th century and was played alongside its newly developed European descendant, the rebec, until the 14th century. In parts of Central Asia the word rabāb refers to a variety of lute.