The Lute originated as the Arab ʿūd. It was taken to Europe in the 13th century by way of Spain and by returning Crusaders.

The discovery of a lute on an Akkadian seal, now in the British Museum, pushed the known existence of the plucked lute back to c. 3100 BC. The lute's existence in art was more plain between 2330–2000 BC (the 2nd Uruk period), when the art had sufficient detail to show the instrument clearly.