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Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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Ali Khalifeh, a lute-maker, tries a oud at a shop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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Ali Khalifeh, a lute-maker, tries a oud at a shop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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A Syrian worker strings a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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Ali Khalifeh, a lute-maker, adjusts the strings on a oud at a shop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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A Syrian worker cuts out wood at a oud workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

9 / 14

A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

10 / 14

A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

11 / 14

A Syrian worker cuts out wood at a oud workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

12 / 14

A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

13 / 14

A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

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A Syrian worker sands a oud at a workshop in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 17, 2017. The first Damascene oud was produced in 1897 by Abdo al-Nahhat, who became one of the country's most renowned lute-makers. / AFP / LOUAI BESHARA

Updated 07 August 2017

Syria's traditional oud-making on the decline

Updated 07 August 2017

Antoun Tawil, one of Syria's last traditional lute makers, waits in vain in his Damascus workshop for orders of the oud, an instrument his country was once renowned for producing.
While the conflict that has ravaged Syria over the past six years has devastated many of its historic crafts, the production of the oud, the oriental lute, has been particularly hard hit.
Lute makers have emigrated in large numbers, and the Damascene wood used to build the instruments has also become rare./AFP/

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