Short answers, pulled from the story.
The earliest evidence of a lute-like instrument dates back to 3100 BC, found on a cylinder seal in the British Museum that depicts a woman playing a stick instrument in the ancient culture of Uruk.
The word lute likely derives from the Arabic al-oud, meaning the wood, referring to the wooden plectrum or the wooden strips that formed the back of the instrument. The instrument was crafted almost entirely of wood, with a soundboard typically made of spruce and a back assembled from thin strips of hardwood like maple, cherry, or rosewood.
Francesco Canova da Milano, active between 1497 and 1543, is acknowledged as one of the most famous lute composers in history. Other influential composers include Albert de Rippe, Ennemond Gaultier, Denis Gaultier, Silvius Leopold Weiss, and the Hungarian Bálint Bakfark.
Medieval lutes were played with a quill as a plectrum, but lutenists began to abandon the quill in favor of plucking the instrument with their fingers in the last few decades of the 15th century. The number of courses grew from four or five to six and beyond, eventually reaching ten by the end of the Renaissance and continuing to expand to 14 or even 19 courses during the Baroque era.
The lute almost fell out of use after 1800, with some sorts still used for some time in Germany, Sweden, and Ukraine. The instrument enjoyed a revival with the awakening of interest in historical music around 1900 and throughout the century, further boosted by the early music movement in the 20th century.