In 2014, the Israel Museum put on display twelve limestone masks. These are the oldest masks made by people of the so-called pre-ceramic Neolithic era. All of them were found in the Judean Desert, and, as studies have shown on the surface of the stone, come from a very small area with a radius of about fifty kilometers.
Limestone creations
Each mask weighs about one to two kilograms, is oval shaped, shaped like a human face, with slits for eyes and an opening for the mouth surrounded by carefully depicted teeth and a protruding nose. One of the masks is similar in shape to the image of the skull - it has wide round eye sockets and a detailed lower jaw. All masks, with the exception of one that fits in the palm, are comparable in size to a human face. Some have holes around the perimeter through which the strings holding them are likely to have passed. Limestone is an easy stone to work with, but it should be borne in mind that the people who made these masks had nothing to work with except stone tools. And they had to get a piece of limestone, bring it to the required thickness, gouge an oval notch in the lower side,so that the stone product can be put on or at least held with hands near the face, to make the outer side look like a mask, besides, cut holes in the most accurate way without damaging the product. For instruments of that time, it was a difficult job. And the stone carvers are worthy of all praise. On one mask there were traces of staining (stripes of red and green) - in other words, after the carvers, the artists got down to business. They painted the masks with colored stripes, most likely imitating a tattoo. It is believed that the masks were "portraits" of deceased tribesmen, so they all retained their individuality, and were not made according to a single pattern. The masks were hewn from stone around 7200-7000 BC.in addition, carefully cut the holes without damaging the product. For instruments of that time, it was a difficult job. And the stone carvers are worthy of all praise. On one mask there were traces of staining (stripes of red and green) - in other words, after the carvers, the artists got down to business. They painted the masks with colored stripes, most likely imitating a tattoo. It is believed that the masks were "portraits" of deceased tribesmen, so they all retained their individuality, and were not made according to a single pattern. The masks were hewn from stone around 7200-7000 BC.in addition, carefully cut the holes without damaging the product. For instruments of that time, it was a difficult job. And the stone carvers are worthy of all praise. On one mask there were traces of staining (stripes of red and green) - in other words, after the carvers, the artists got down to business. They painted the masks with colored stripes, most likely imitating a tattoo. It is believed that the masks were "portraits" of deceased tribesmen, so they all retained their individuality, and were not made according to a single pattern. The masks were hewn from stone around 7200-7000 BC.after the carvers, the artists got down to business. They painted the masks with colored stripes, most likely imitating a tattoo. It is believed that the masks were "portraits" of deceased tribesmen, so they all retained their individuality, and were not made according to a single pattern. The masks were hewn from stone around 7200-7000 BC.after the carvers, the artists got down to business. They painted the masks with colored stripes, most likely imitating a tattoo. It is believed that the masks were "portraits" of deceased tribesmen, so they all retained their individuality, and were not made according to a single pattern. The masks were hewn from stone around 7200-7000 BC.
People of the distant past
Nine thousand years ago, on the land where the Jews later settled, the tribes of the Natufians lived. They did not yet know ceramics and did not know how to make dishes. But they perfectly processed stone, skillfully carved wood, made leather, made fabric from plant fibers and animal hair. In the Nahal Hemar cave, where in 1983 the archaeologist Ofer Bar-Yosef discovered two stone masks, other remarkable artifacts were found - woven rope baskets, the remains of mats, wooden arrowheads and a wooden sickle, plaster beads, flax headdresses and many flint products.
At Jericho, archaeological excavations have also provided abundant material for thought. The inhabitants of Jericho were engaged in agriculture. They grew two types of wheat, barley, lentils, peas, horse beans, chickpeas. Both barley and wheat were artificially bred. To store grain, the Jericho people built special grain pits.
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But the main occupation was stone processing. From stone blocks and clay "pillows" they erected walls around the settlement, inside the protocity they erected round houses, knew how to plaster the walls inside dwellings and paint them to make it pleasant to live there, made doorways with door frames and hung doors, laid out around hearths and pools a stone or clay floor, painted with patterns, sometimes wooden stairs were erected, a roof made of reeds was covered with a layer of clay. Many carved stone and bone artifacts are found in Jericho - figurines of people and animals, expressive-looking individual heads, ornamented handles for utensils. All of this is expertly crafted. One of the archaeologists who studied this era said that the Natufians had just some kind of passion for art.
Masks can, of course, be viewed as art objects. However, masks played a slightly different role in the life of ancient people. In Rome, for example, and much later, they made death wax masks of their ancestors, which they kept as the apple of an eye, because they believed that in this way the ancestors remain forever with their descendants. There is even a known sculpture of a Roman holding wax masks of his ancestors. Having a collection of such masks was like a family tree for them. The more masks, the more noble and noble the clan. Then these masks were replaced by busts of ancestors, who were honored with the same enthusiasm.
In ancient times in Palestine, masks also associated people with their ancestors. They were made from stone, and from ceramics, and from wood, perhaps, like the Romans, from wax. But over nine millennia, everything except the stone turned to dust. However, several very interesting skulls were found in Jericho, plastered with clay to preserve the individual features of the dead. The inner cavity of these skulls was filled with clay. Bivalve shells or cowrie shells were inserted into the eye sockets of the skulls, which made it seem that the eyelids were slightly closed: the artists strove to give the dead a lively look. Some of the skulls were densely covered with a layer of clay, leaving only a slit for the eyes. Others had a black stripe on the forehead to show a line of hair. Some skulls have mustaches painted. Some were specially deformed by removing the lower jaw. Some have likened them to masks. Others were covered with ornaments. In the already mentioned cave Nahal Hemal, Bar-Yosef came across a whole collection of such skulls. They are called "plastered skulls".
They all belonged to adult men. On the side of the face, the skulls were painted, on the lower, parietal side, a lattice was applied from a material that was initially mistaken for asphalt. However, in the course of studying the substance, they found out that it was not asphalt at all, but an ancient glue, artificial collagen. It was made from boiled animal skins, adding vegetable components. Not only the undersides of the skulls were covered with ancient glue, but also wicker baskets and wooden products.
There is no consensus among researchers as to why the skulls were separated from the body, stuffed with clay, painted and then additionally treated with collagen. Some experts believe that the glue was supposed to keep the rain out. Considering that the glue on the turtles has turned to asphalt, rain is extremely rare in this region. Probably, this was not only today, but thousands of years ago.
Talk to eternity
The Natufians living in houses buried their dead right under the floor of the dwelling, apparently based on the principle that the ancestor should not leave his relatives even after death. The ancestor under the floor was something like a talisman that would not allow the house to collapse. What manipulations with their “underground” ancestors were carried out by the Natufians, we do not know. We don’t know for certain what rituals were performed by people in masks. It is only clear that these rituals were closely associated with the cult of the ancestors. Obviously, they used not only masks and, perhaps, not only the heads of ancestors, but also figurines of animals, people who could symbolize forces that could protect from trouble or increase the possibility of good luck. The purpose of one figure is well known:a woman schematically sculpted from clay (or carved from stone or bone) with a large breast and thick thighs (the so-called Paleolithic Venus) symbolized fertility and fertility.
Some researchers believe that ritual actions with masks, figurines and skulls were addressed to the gods, others - that the rituals are associated with seasonal work and fertility, others - that the rituals had a purely magical background, they were performed by shamans with assistants. It was they who put on masks, performed ritual dances, sang ritual songs and called upon their ancestors to take care of their descendants, send them a good harvest and save them from misfortune and disease.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 32, Mikhail Romashko
