A pear shaped short necked instrument without frets, the oud is the preferred instrument of the Arab world which names it "Amir Altarab", meaning the prince of enchantments. The oud was introduced in Europe in the beginning of the 8th century during the conquest of Spain by the Moors and it was during the Crusades that it was distributed throughout Europe. It's name comes from the francization of the Arabic "al'ud" (piece of wood) which gave the name of lute to the European instrument that made its appearance towards the middle of the Middle Ages and which is directly inspired by the oud. Excavations in the tomb of Queen Nefertiti revealed a probable ancestor of the instrument; a lute named "nefer" from the 14th century BC with a similar shape. The Persian "barbat", which is carved in a single piece of wood, has the characteristic shape of the oud in a smaller version and would also be a likely ancestor. The five doubled strings are plucked using a traditionally elongated plectrum made of buffalo horn, eagle feather or, nowadays, plastic, which the Turks call "mızprap" and which the Arabs call "risha" (feather in Arabic). A sixth single string ("bamteli" in Turkish) can be added and modern ouds sometimes have up to eight strings.