[1] The name rebáb (rabáb, rabába, rubáb, Arabic ربابة) refers to a group of significantly different stringed instruments, plucked or bowed lutes in regions under the influence of Islam.

These goods spread gradually to Provence, influencing French troubadours and trouvères and eventually reaching the rest of Europe.

[5] Sicilian influence increased as Tuscan poets visited Sicily in the 13th century to partake of the local culture.

[5] His Hohenstaufen grandson Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194–1250) continued integrating Muslims into his court, including Moorish musicians.

Of those permanently expelled, the majority eventually settled in the Barbary Coast (Maghreb), and others to France, Sicily, Italy and Constantinople.

Similar to the old Arab lutes, its head is 12 cm long, bent back almost at a right angle, and has two large, side-positioned tuning keys.

The strings run above the copper plate covering the upper part of the body at such a height that they cannot be pushed down against the neck in the manner of a violin: the instrument does not have a fretboard.