Excellent video and a beautiful find! It's important to understand, for those of us who don't have a background in ancient history, that "demon" means something rather different to us today, with our late Judeo-Christian awareness, than it would have meant to people of that time. To them there were worlds above us and worlds below us, and beings inhabiting them all. These weren't necessarily domains of punishment or reward. Just a thought to share. It's easy, sometimes, to forget that we're wearing our own glasses and seeing the world our own way.

Omg for the last time, Ishtar is NOT a demon! 🙄

I've heard a theory that it isn't Inanna/Ishtar, but her sister, Ereshkigal.

Candle holder? Put up on the ledge to honor the dead, or lost.

I'm not that familiar with the art of the period, but the face looks more animal like, especially in profile. Or it could be an alien? lol

3:58 to me those crescent moons look like two birds facing each other

Take note of the hole just under foot/pedastle level on the plaque. (The hole on the right side is missing due to damage.) This is where the Lions piece was attached.

Are there any ruts in streets in Ur, anywhere, that indicates wagon wheel traffic?

Given enough time, one religions deity becomes another religion’s demon.

All I could think about during the intro was "have yourself a slice of Humble Brick" 😂

You're giving Scott Prop and Roll a run for his monye with these puns! 😂😂 Thank you for sharing the thought process you go through in examining things, it's something we rarely see on TV (as I'm sure you know). Makes me a little bit nostalgic for classic Time Team, but also shows the craft is still alive and well.

The old gods are demons/the fallen. Look at the tribute they demanded.

Chemist wants to know: why this obsession with Mesopotamia? Why no one seems to care about Levopotamia and Dextropotamia?

Is there any comparator @ Baalbeck

Your find has similarities to a Nimrud ivory in the Met, excavated by Max Mallowan (!), c. 9th-8th Cent. BC, in “Phoenician style,”: perhaps a ceremonial “horse frontlet” to protect its forehead in battle. Its nude figure with an “arresting frontal gaze” has the same stance, but is surrounded by lotus flowers and lions, and does not have the same crown or wings. She is “balancing on a third lotus flower” rather like a pedestal, and also has anklet rings. I wonder if it could be the same goddess despite the differences, or is that pedestal just a standard fixture used to depict goddesses? If it is the same, and the ivory one was meant to adorn a war horse, perhaps one could argue more for the warlike aspect of the goddess here rather than her underworld/demon aspect?

My first thought was a trowel for mortar, I know of bricks used in this period but not heard about how they were fixed together or if they were left dry. However I like the idea of a mirror and also of a leather or hide working tool as suggested. Seems like a job for experimental archaeology (I'm currently looking for a master's dissertation topic in experimental archaeology so perhaps I will take up this mantle lol)!

Very interesting. Am I correct in thinking that Inanna's descent into the Underworld and giving up of items and clothing is the origins of the infamous "Dance of the Seven Veils"? FWIW Just noticed a comment about a lack of notifications. Was coincidentally thinking of you the other day watching Milo's latest video, and that I hadn't seen you for a while. Looked to see if the Bell had been dinged and for some reason, I'm not even subscribed?! No idea how that happened. Any road all sorted out now.

You've obviously never met a croissant saleswoman! Seriously, enjoy these vids, and the artifacts. A window into how our ancestors were trying to make sense our their surroundings, fascinating.

It's so nice to see this kind of content among all the bullshit put on KZbin. Thanks for sharing.

KZbin hasn't been showing me your videos lately so I'm very glad to have caught this one, and will be catching up on the backlog!

Thank you so much!

If you ask me (a guy on the internet) the idea that an Underworld deity with wings isn't totally unheard of in this general region. Hermas with his winged sandals was also a guide of the dead into the afterlife. I know... Hermes is Greek and this Assyria. But the connections between the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean have been strong well before the 600s BCE. That would be my argument for why the wings don't discount the idea of a Underworld figure.

I love the topic of these women figures from ancient times. I could have watched you talk about her for an hour.

So cool.

I could sit with you for hours talking about that one little piece. Such an amazing find!

Fascinating as always. Thanks for sharing mate.

Wow! Thanks for sharing!

Mortal or demon whichever you be. Be gone! Ishtar has no time for pitiful games.

good stuff, Doc!

Thank you for the video. Nice to get a glimpse of how to ask the right questions when looking a an artefact.

defo a wall thing

beautiful, do you think they use a mold to shape the material before they fire it?

The "crescent moons" definitely look like horns, compare them to horns on the crowns of lamassu statues. It's just because of the small size of the plaques causing some of that "distortion" on the part of the artisan. Thank you for a great video!

So cool to see and learn a bit more about, thank you for sharing!

Thank you for the video. Bureny Relief was and ever will be surrounded with doubt. Yet on the other hand it's the most popular image associated with Ishtar in general public. Depictions of a naked woman with spread out arms and wings are know from some pottery as well such as a decorated vase from Louvre

Thoroughly enjoyed your presentation as always .

Thanks for the upload.

I like these videos where you just show interesting things

dont say ISIS for the terrorists. it is an insult to the egyptian god

Just came here from Milo Rossis reaction from this video. And I heartedly agree, you Mr. have a lot to share and a lot of knowledge. I applaud you =)

This is fascinating. Thank you for sharing!!! ❤💙❤

Very interesting! Thank you very much.

They look like they could have been hung on ropes. Maybe as weights for keeping some kind of tapestry or hanging straight, or possibly in strings like a sort of bead curtain.

true archaeology!

This is a great reaction video and this is how a discussion should go, he's not digging into the faults of milo nor is he making the other person look any less intellectual. I enjoyed this video

So, perhaps an out-of-box thought: could this be something like a roman strigil? Not razor sharp for removing hair, but for a kind of cleansing by scraping of the body? I admit it seems like the kind of use that would be mentioned in some writing somewhere, but perhaps it was seen as 'the obvious tool' and not explicitly mentioned? Another point against this theory is the straight 'edge', where a strigil was curved to conform to the body.

You do look like this mask

Big doorways need big drapes to control air flow. Big drapes need big decorative sash cord weights. It's the most boring idea ever, unless it means that the job of interior decorator originated thousands of years earlier than previously thought. Excellent video, thanks.

They look like they could’ve been on the end of ropes or cords, to weigh them down, like how ancient cultures used clay weights for their looms, or along the bottom of wall drapes.

If you a demon and wanna come in you'll have to figth my demon (ancient pokemon demon chasers i guess)