Kemenche (tr|kemençe, Persian : کمانچه) or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Greece, Armenia, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.[1] and regions adjacent to the Black Sea. These instruments are folk instruments, generally having three strings and played held upright with their tail on the knee of the musician.[2] The name Kemenche derives from the Persian Kamancheh, meaning a "small bow".[3]
The Kemençe of the Black Sea (tr|Karadeniz kemençesi|italic=y), also known as Pontic kemenche or Pontic lyra (el|Ποντιακή λύρα), is a box-shaped lute ( in the Hornbostel-Sachs system), while the classical kemençe (tr|Klasik kemençe|italic=y or Armudî kemençe, el|Πολίτικη Λύρα) is a bowl-shaped lute ().
Other bowed instruments have names sharing the same Persian etymology include the kamancheh (or Kabak kemane in Turkish), a spike lute (), and the Cappadocian kemane, an instrument closely related to the kemenche of the Black Sea with added sympathetic strings. Circassians have a similar instrument named the Shikepshine which means horse tail violin.