Psalterion

Psalterion is a historical name used for a family of stringed instruments in the psaltery group, found in Greek and later European musical traditions. In ancient sources, the psalterion denotes a plucked or sometimes hammered zithertype instrument used to accompany singing or poetry; the English term psaltery derives from the same root. The instrument varied in size and form but typically consisted of a flat soundboard with strings stretched across a shallow wooden body; it was played by plucking the strings with the fingers or with plectra, and, in some variants, by striking the strings with small hammers.

In classical Greece the psalterion may have been used in secular settings alongside other lyre-family instruments, while in the Byzantine era similar instruments appear in liturgical contexts. In medieval Europe the psalterium or psaltery became a widely recognized instrument, often trapezoidal or rectangular, placed on a table or on the player’s lap. It was primarily plucked, though later hammered forms closely related to the hammer dulcimer appeared in some regions. The number of strings and tunings varied, with many examples oriented toward diatonic scales and gradually expanding toward broader ranges in some traditions.

Present-day scholarship treats the psalterion as a historical umbrella term for a diverse set of plucked and, in some traditions, hammered string instruments rather than a single uniform instrument. Its cultural and musical influence is reflected in medieval and early modern contexts, and it remains a point of reference in discussions of the psaltery family and its evolution into later zithers and related instruments.