Though many scholars believe the ‘ud to have originated in Egypt, Hickmann makes his point that the ‘ud was brought there by these mountain people. (my translation)

During the Hyksos invasion, the lute first appears in Egypt. The Hyksos invasion was in direct correlation with the mountain people’s migration in northern Mesopotamia, that the Hyksos probably were commanded by Churritic leaders, who in this way brought the ‘ud quickly to Egypt. By Egyptian accounts, a connection arose between the Asian war-god Reschef and the lute. The instrument was allowed, because of that, first to be used as a soldier’s instrument.
(Hickmann,1970: p. 196-197)

Sachs also traces the origin of the lute to the Caucasus mountains:
Lutes first appear on Mesopotamian figurines, plaques and seals from about 2000 BC… The honor of having invented the lute was awarded to the Assyrians by Pollux; but others attributed it to the Cappadocians, or even to the Egyptians. The hypothesis of an Egyptian origin can be eliminated; it is due to a temporary fashion in Greece of attributing all imaginable things, and music itself, to the romantic land of Pharoah. Assyria and Cappadocia do not exclude each other; about 2000 BC, Cappadocia was influenced and controlled by Assyria. It seems likely that the Assyrians adopted the lute from the Cappadocians, because the lute is entirely lacking in Assyrian temple ceremonies and was, therefore, probably a popular instrument; it is depicted several times with a shepherd. If the lute came to Cappadocia from Assyria, then the Greeks probably took the name pandura rather from the Cappadocia or some neighboring country than from the Sumerian language, which was already extinct. The old Sumerian name of the lute still exists in Georgian as panturi; in other worlds, this term like so many Sumerian words, was exported at a time when Sumerian was still spoken, and the Greeks did not obtain it directly from the Sumerians, but from some people in or near the Caucasus. (Sachs, 1940: p. 82-83)

(Sachs, 1940: Plate IV f. and g.)

(Polin, 1954: plate VIII)

The primitive long-necked lute was very portable, and could have been carried as either a soldier’s instrument, or a shepherd’s instrument. In (Polin, 1954, Plate VIII) is a clay plaque from as early as the 3rd millennium BC of a shepherd playing a lute to his dog and sheep in Mesopotamia.

Just as the shepherd entertains his dogs, slaves and wives were likely supposed to entertain their masters with music. Pictures on tombs reveal some scenes from the daily life of richer folks in the 18th Egyptian dynasty. Here is a picture from the 18th dynasty in Egypt from a Thebian wall-painting, showing banquet musicians performing.

(Polin, 1954: plate XI)

The primitive form of the lute is visible in plate XI from (Polin, 1954) (above), an instrument most often played by women, with tassels hanging down from it for decoration. Lutes were called nefer, tamboura or nabla, and were represented on many wall paintings and panels in Egypt, and represent in hieroglyphics the attribute: good. Another translation of the name for lute, nafir or naufu conveys in Egyptian the idea both of lute and the idea of beauty. (Polin, 1954: p. 45)

The original lute is said to have had a neck a yard long, with 4-8 strings. Its immediate offspring in the instrument genealogy were the mandore (later called the Moorish guitar), the pandore (the ancestor of the mandolin), and the guitar. The saz was a similar instrument, with a skinny neck and a big double body, along with dozens of other variations. (Polin, 1954: p. 81)

The lute was a valued instrument, and the musician was well respected in Egyptian society. Primarily women played the lute (men played the harp). There might have been an active relationship between Syria and Egypt. Syrian girls were sought after in Egypt, and were probably a big factor in transmitting cultural elements between the two countries. Therefore, there may well have been cross-‘pollinization’ of instruments between countries in this manner. One example of common practices was the custom of affixing tassels to lutes. Another is the connection both countries’ music had with the planetary system. (Polin, 1954: p. 99-100)