The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is presenting a virtual exhibit of ancient masks and rattles, just in time for Purim, when both are used to celebrate the holiday. The virtual exhibit displays finds that were discovered in archaeological excavations around the country.
Included among the artifacts are masks that portray humans and animals, the oldest of which is reportedly from the Stone Age.
Clay rattles that contain small stones or other materials for making noise were found, in a variety of shapes, some adorned with a painted or engraved decoration. According to the IAA, most were found in a cultic context or inside tombs.
Rattles are frequently found in excavations throughout the country, said the IAA, partly because they are small objects that were relatively easy to manufacture and were used by the general population.
It is believed that the clay rattle was an important musical instrument in the religious practices of the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah during the First Temple period. In the photo above is a clay rattle found at Hazor.(Israel news photo: Clara Amit, courtesy of IAA)
The use of rattles during the reading of the Book of Esther on the holiday of Purim is a symbolic expression of the annihilation of Amalek, the first people whom the Israelites fought while wandering in the desert (Exodus 17:8-13). This is connected to the ancestry of the Persian prime minister, Haman (4th century BCE), who was a descendant of Amalek and who, as it is told in "Megillat Esther" (the Scroll of Esther), unsuccessfully attempted to wipe out all the Jews in the Persian Empire and loot their property.
The Jews were originally commanded by G-d in the Bible to destroy every last member of the people of Amalek for attacking them in the desert; Jewish Sages said that it is due to the failure to carry out that command to the letter that their descendants periodically reappear to cause trouble for the Jewish People.