Who invented the 'zither' ?

Charles F. Zimmermann of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is generally credited with inventing what we call the autoharp in 1881 (or 1882, depending on the source).
However, it was apparently invented by a German,
Karl August Gütter.

http://www.fmp.com/aq/autohist.html

Then there's the chorded zither which, according to The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments, was invented in the 1870s as AKKord zither, in Germany.

http://barbfeick.tripod.com/instruments/string.htm

Then there's the zheng, a zither invented in China during the Chiu Dynasty at the time of the building of the Great Wall.

http://tritown.gmnews.com/News/2002/0221/Schools/

Anyone wanna try for Jurassic zithers?