The Oud ( /ˈuːd/; Arabic: عود‎ ʿūd, plural:أعواد, a‘wād; Assyrian:ܥܘܕ ūd, Greek: ούτι; Persian: بربط‎ barbat; Turkish: ud or ut;Armenian: ուդ, Azeri: ud; Hebrew: עוד ud‎; Somali: cuud or kaban) is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African (Chaabi, Classical, and Andalusian) and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths. The oud is readily distinguished by its lack of frets and smaller neck.

The origin of the name oud (and its etymological cousin, lute) for the musical instrument is uncertain, but the Arabic العود (al-ʿūd) refers literally to a thin piece of wood similar to the shape of a straw, and may refer to the wooden plectrum traditionally used for playing the oud, to the thin strips of wood used for the back, or to the wooden soundboard that distinguished it from similar instruments with skin-faced bodies. Recent research by Eckhard Neubauer suggests that oud may simply be an Arabic borrowing from the Persian name rud, which meant string, stringed instrument, or lute.

The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking. The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.

Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism. Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.

Joseph Tawadros (born 1983, Cairo, Egypt) is an oud virtuoso from Australia.

Music scores composed for the following films:

Mustafa Said is an Egyptian singer, musicologist, composer and a virtuoso Oud player. He has been living in Beirut since 2004. He is one of the few young talents to devote his career to the classical Arabic repertoire while exploring new forms and new sounds.

Former professor at the House of Oud (Cairo), he extends his musical approach from the already existent musical traditions of the east Mediterranean region with the spirit of the two previous musical renaissances: that of the golden age of Abbasid music, and that of the second half of the 19th century. Inspired by the oriental traditional heritage, the compositions and forms of interpretation of Mustafa Said offer a very contemporary approach and place great emphasis on the instrumental and vocal improvisation (Taqsim).^{[unreliable source?]}

Said has composed music for several documentaries and drama and participated in many local and international festivals as a solo performer or as part of an ensemble: Institute of the Arab World (2007), Mugam Festival in Azerbaijan (2009), Songs of Peace and Réconciliation conference in Indonesia (2009), Sounds of Arabia Festival in Abu Dhabi (2010), toured in Japan where he performed 17 concerts and conferences (2010), Fes Festival of World Sacred Music (2010). Mustafa Saïd is also the founder of the Asil Oriental Ensemble and is a lecturer in traditional Arabic ensemble music at the Higher Institute of Music, Antonine University (Lebanon) since 2006.

Mahmoud Hassan Ali (born December 15, 1919) was an Egyptian Greco-Roman Bantamweight wrestler. He competed for Egypt in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, earning a silver medal behind Kurt Pettersén of Sweden and Halil Kaya of Turkey.

Hassan and Ibrahim Orabi were the first wrestlers of Egypt to gain Olympic medals in wrestling.