The Kemençe of the Black Sea (Turkish: Karadeniz kemençesi, Greek: Ποντιακή λύρα Pontiakí lýra or Pontic lyre, Laz: Çilili (ჭილილი), Armenian: քամանի Qamani, Pontic: lyra) is a Greek and Turkish traditional musical instrument.

Also Circassian people of Caucasus region has the same instrument named Shikepshine which basically means horse tail violin.

Similar and variant types were probably disseminated along east–west trading routes from Asia into the Middle East,[1][2] and the Byzantine Empire.

According to tradition, the growth rings of the soundboard wood, if they are dense, perform the fine frequencies better, while if they are dilute the lower ones.

In the "kifal", the tuning keys are wedged, the "otia" (ears), which are T-shaped (usually) and the strings are tied to them, which, after crossing the whole instrument, end up in the tailpiece ("palikar"), a wooden component in the shape of an elongated inverted triangle, located at the bottom, on which the lower ends of the strings are attached.

[10] The three single strings of the Pontian lyre until 1920 were made of silk and produced a nice melodic but low sound.

There are three different ways to play: The lowest string is named "kapan" and the highest one "zil", and so do the respective types of the instrument.

It is played in the downright position, either by resting it on the knee when sitting, or held in front of the player when standing.The lyre always has a slight tilt to the left.