The harp shown here is a frame harp with a post and an arched sound box. The entire instrument is made of oak, its eleven strings tied at the top and wound around tuning pegs at the base. The strings are made of fishing wire that is appropriate for catching sharks. The only decoration is the supportive post which was turned on a lathe. The neck is of solid wood and the hollow sound box is at the top of the arch with a hole beneath the arch to emit the sound. In order to get the desired bend in the wood for the arched sound box, striations were carved into the wood strips, which in turn were steamed, then shaped and clamped into place. The bridges at the top and bottom are not secured to the frame in order to allow adjustment of sound quality.
Maas, Martha and Jane McIntosh Snyder. Stringed Instruments of Ancient Greece. New Haven: Yale UP, 1989.