minstrel: ancient harps and lyres

[Hryan949 at cs.com]

hi,

i am looking for any info on the earliest harps and lyres that are known of.  
i have seen pictures of simple african and summarian lyres and arch harps 
from egypt but can't seem to find much on the subject-for instance the 
tunning mechanisms, tunnings, and more detailed pictures.  i am looking 
forward to making a 12-15 string lyre that would be quite a simple design 
that wouldn't require tunning pegs of any kind but would rely on tension 
created by bridges of varying heights and by sliding them upward.  you would 
only need the simpliest of tools to create this instrument.  i hope this 
isn't off topic given that such instruments are usually from quite early 
periods, but since similiar 'primitive' instruments exist to this day it 
would seem period in that sense.  thanks,

hugh