igil (bowed musical instrument)

An igil (Tuvan- игил) is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. (It is called "ikili" in Western Mongolia). The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate. The strings, and those of the bow, are traditionally made of hair from a horse's tail (strung parallel), but may also be made of nylon. Like the morin khuur of Mongolia, the igil typically features a carved horse's head at the top of the neck above the tuning pegs, and both instruments are known as the horsehead fiddle.