Overview
One of the oldest musical instruments in Central, South and Southwest Asia, the rubab is a string instrument made with dried mulberry wood collected in deserts. It is played on many occasions, including for celebrations, weddings, funerals, gatherings and ritual healings. It is also a leading instrument in orchestral and contemporary music performances, including in multinational ensembles. Master players are highly respected as elders of their communities, typically initiating specific ceremonies and rituals. Rubab crafting is a traditional skill entailing carpentry, woodcarving, marquetry and inlay. It is typically transmitted through hands-on practice, often as a family tradition. Although rubab craftspeople are mostly men, players include people of both genders, regardless of ages, ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Poems and literature often allude to the rubab, and different...
This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.
Community and Authority
- Communities
- Afghanistan, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
- Languages
- Not specified in UNESCO dataset
- Cultural territories
- Afghanistan, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
- Countries
- Afghanistan, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
How the System Works
One of the oldest musical instruments in Central, South and Southwest Asia, the rubab is a string instrument made with dried mulberry wood collected in deserts. It is played on many occasions, including for celebrations, weddings, funerals, gatherings and ritual healings. It is also a leading instrument in orchestral and contemporary...
Sources and Evidence
Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.
Field-Level Provenance
- title
- UNESCO DataHub field title_en
- preferredTitle
- UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
- summary
- UNESCO DataHub field description_en
- type
- UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
- countries
- UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
- categories
- ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
- relationships
- UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
- sourceUrl
- UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
- rights
- UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url
Original Source Metadata
Why This Record Is Credible
This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.
Cultural Access
Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.
Relationships
Review and Corrections
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