Pre Guitar Instruments

There have been many guitar-like musical instruments in the ancient times, up to at least 5,000 years ago.

Instruments which look like the guitar were seen in statues which were recovered in archeological expeditions in the Iranian region of Susa. the very first documented mention of the instrument dates back to the fourteenth century. the said guitar-ancestor had three pairs of strings (usually referred to as double courses) and a single string with the highest tone.
Some say that the word “guitar” came from the word “qitara.” Qitara is an Arabic name for the different kinds of lutes during the early times.