Ancient Clay Ball?

[@jelletje8]

_CLAY BALLL!!_

[@ritterdererde]

Loved it at the start, loved it even more at the end :D

[@pattheplanter]

The World Conker Championships were held last weekend in Southwick. Horse chesnut seeds are strung on a cord and dried before being used in mock combat between pairs of players. Each takes turns to swing their conker at that of their opponent. The first conker to shatter enough to fall off its cord is the loser. Perhaps this duel tradition is an echo of ancient ritual clay pendant contests to honour Nin, the God of War. The winner kept their sacred winning clay ball and took it away as a talisman to bring them luck as a soldier. Or they helped to hold tapestries down that covered windows or altars.

[@BrianPeterson-oq5ov]

The winner this year was found to have cheated, using a fake chestnut made of steel. 😂

[@pattheplanter]

@@BrianPeterson-oq5ov Cleared on investigation. He owns a steel conker to entertain children and others but he did not use it in competition. It would be rather obvious. The competition conkers are drawn at random from from a bag of official approved stocks. Event chairman Jim Packer commented: "Somebody's a sore loser, I think."

[@pattheplanter]

The Daily Telegraph should probably investigate their stories before publishing accusations.

[@BrianPeterson-oq5ov]

Thanks for the clarification- saw the story coincidentally the other day. It’s an interesting competition.

[@EdrickBluebeard]

I doubt this is the case, but imagine big painted necklaces draped on statuary. Like I said, I doubt it. It's just a fun notion.

[@James-to7pi]

I am most likely wrong, but they look like an addon to expand an overhead awning.

[@alisoncummins2726]

Or there coukd have been decorative strings of them since it looks like there are two holes making it a giant bead.

[@mausercawley9491]

Ok here me out: They're clappers. They sailed so they had rope and probably nets. You got a temple so a prayer-space, but major ceremonies aren't going on 24/7 so you need some light meditative sound effects so you can focus and get your prayers said without getting distracted by the murmurer next to you, right? So what you do is you hang a fishnet-like canopy under the ceiling (possibly from short pegs) but with leads coming down, and on the end of each lead is one of these balls. So the breeze sways, they bump gently into each other like windchimes, and there's so many of them that it produces a gentle, near-constant rattle that's very mystical sounding, and they're made of clay so they don't kill anybody if they fall off (the net canopy is much lower, perhaps, to accentuate the loftiness of the ceiling, and also for aforementioned safety reasons). Or something like that, only with iron or bronze or gold plates between for a bit louder more windchime-y effect (and screw safety). Or something of that nature. I posit this accounts for the way they're spread everywhere, you said there was a fire, they're not right next to the walls or the roof so they're not scorched, but they are everywhere, and the ropes were repurposed or destroyed by time. Or maybe it's a gong-like situation and people lifted it as high as they could and then swung them into the gong and maybe your spell was a success if it broke, or maybe the louder the ring the more likely it is Ishtar will hear your prayer and be pleased, but it's a bad omen if it breaks... Edit: Capitalized 'they'. Added the word 'more', removed a comma, and changed an 's' to a '-y'. Added another '-' and a pair of parentheses.

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

I like the idea and the amount of thought you've put into the suggestion. It would be hard to prove, but it is possible that they were used in this way.

[@mausercawley9491]

@@artifactuallyspeaking OMG you replied. AND IT'S POSSIBLE?! 😁 Thank you! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. An honor, sir. So cool.

[@sypialnia_studio]

The abacus suggestion seems intriguing! Counting days was important for agriculture and religion, so the 'abacus' could serve as a calendar. But my first thought was these could be weights for flags or standards.

[@angelag2293]

Thank you for the clay ball video

[@shang6158]

Sounds like the ancient Assyrians really went balls to the wall.

[@richardsweeney197]

Thank you.

[@cuteswan]

Any chance that there's also a billiard/pool table somewhere at the site? ;)

[@Armyjay]

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.

[@michaelschaffer9180]

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.

[@Ezullof]

The discussion on ceremonial mace heads makes me thing of prehistoric axes (for example from Grand Pressigny). They would never be mounted, and in fact the long knife blades that they also made weren't even practical enough to be used regularly, and they are always found in a context that shows that they had symbolic value (and they don't show signs of being used a lot). I think that there's a possibility that the clay balls were similarly both evocative shapes of mace heads, but also not used like mace heads at all, even ceremonially.

[@marcusott2973]

Much awaited, much appreciated excellent insights as always from you.

[@chrisball3778]

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.

[@KLanio-lr8yv]

and maybe it was a for a game the peists liked...

[@beckyheydemann1332]

Always nice to see people admit you have no clue.

[@thomasdykstra100]

...except when they prattle on any way.

[@TAB_100]

where exactly were they found? (each individual piece) how many in total? (approximately) what possible meanings do the colors have in the culture? burnt or dried? how did they get destroyed? (how high must they have fallen from, how forcefully swung or how much pressure were they subjected to?)

[@TAB_100]

but my first idea would be some kind of decoration like bedposts at the altar (but I've already seen two better ideas in the comments)

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

They are found in a variety of places, including the gate chamber and the courtyard. I think they were broken when the walls collapsed, subjecting them to quite a lot of force, falling from the walls and having the walls fall on them. We have found about a dozen and Layard found at least that many as well. Not sure how many Mallowan might have found. And I'm not sure of the significance of the colors, though we do find those colors on the glazed bricks that also decorated these rooms.

[@TAB_100]

@@artifactuallyspeaking I don't have time to answer again at the moment but I think it might be important to understand in which directions the different walls collapsed

[@TAB_100]

@@artifactuallyspeaking the combination with the walls and where the balls were found is particularly important if we want to know whether the two are really connected and based on where they landed and how exactly they broke we can work out (if they are connected to the walls at all) where exactly the balls were if there were many in a pile, that could indicate ritual objects (a storage location) and in which direction the walls tipped over is also important if the walls have tipped over in a different direction (different from the balls) then that COULD speak against decorations the matching colours would indicate that they could probably really be connected to the walls but unfortunately it is not just the same colours as the other bricks but also different ones (on the bricks) if they were burnt they could also be outdoor decorations (because they would then withstand the weather better) I think it would also be very useful if you did tests (with other, recently made, clay balls) to see how much they can withstand and whether your theories would fit that the walls fell on it is unfortunately only a theory and we have to be careful not to tend towards wishful thinking (otherwise we'll be back to ceremonial clubs or something similar)

[@ElectricalInsanity]

@@artifactuallyspeaking Maybe they're weights used to hold down tapestries or other blowable decorations?

[@jackdaniel4446]

I obviously have no expertise in this regard whatsoever, but would it be possible that these are simply weights for any hanging fabrics, or other such things? perhaps for a curtain across a window, or for a tapestry or something. That's the first thing that came to my head, anyway. Thank you again Dr Hafford for another interesting look into real investigative archaeology. I enjoy every one of these!

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

They could be weights for tapestries. I like the idea. We don't know much about potential hanging cloth on walls in these temples. But we do find some of these clay balls in the courtyard where there would be no roof and I would expect that any tapestries or cloth would be in roofed areas. Of course, we do find them in roofed areas too.

[@marcusott2973]

Might be weights for weaving carpets or fabrics on a primitive loom. The wrap threads are weighted on hanging looms.

[@TheDreamtimezzz]

Ancient cat toy? 🤔😊🐈

[@jeremiasrobinson]

I am currently working hard to make straight As as an anthropology student so I can one day play ball too.

[@jeremiasrobinson]

By "play ball" I mean doing the exciting work of studying decorative knobs.

[@kylecassidy3391]

Clay ball!

[@axeldreyer8972]

tableweights for gods 🗿

[@Divig]

We have always liked to decorate our things. Not everything must have a function. :)

[@jenbadabam8801]

Could it be a large bead? A bunch of them on a rope could look very nice, and would explain why there are many of them.

[@_Brohan]

ball is life

[@RobertWorley]

true archaeology!

[@amygray9978]

What about a drop spindle weight for spinning fibers? Maybe left as offerings?

[@Bildgesmythe]

Ornamental fineal

[@Myrtlecrack]

Necklace bead?

[@AspenShadow]

Clearly a Pokeball or ancient croquet ball. Just look at that stripe! (But the theory of it being part of a ceremonial mace doesn’t make too much sense to me - you mentioned they were found in great quantities, it feels like there’d be much less of them if that were the case?)

[@ArtBellJr]

Do you know where the Treasure of Nimroud is? I watched a documentary on it and heard they went missing. Maybe they are in a museum.

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

I'm not sure what the treasure of Nimroud really is. The Iraqis found a lot of treasure in the Queen's tombs and perhaps this is what is referred to in the documentary. I believe that is in the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, but I'm not certain. I should find the documentary and watch it to see what they say.

[@MrDowntemp0]

Do you have any that go all the way around? like a donut? Or is there always a full wedge missing? Couldn't be a mace if it's always got that side missing, and is stuck to a wall. But maybe they are on tall spikes. Or strung on rope? The way they're painted reminds me of those little floaters on ropes at sea or in a community pool :D

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

Yes, I think they all went all the way around originally but most are broken because of the building collapse. One that Layard found that is now in the British Museum is whole. They could have been on poles or ropes, we just don't know, though I've been thinking they are on pegs in the walls.

[@4quall]

​@@artifactuallyspeaking I can see them being decorative wall art on those pegs . More so a general over all wall design a bit more attractive then a plan wall for sure

[@bradenculver7457]

Clay clay ball ball

[@aldrinmilespartosa1578]

Thats a sling bullet in the rock slinger community.

[@sariahmarier42]

Many cutures use beads in religious rituals. Christian and Muslim peoples have strung large oversized wooden or clay beads as ornamental prayer beads... Perhaps they had a similar tradition of using beads to represent something important in their religion too.

[@sava-smth]

Ball 🥹

[@NaDa-kw2fu]

First thought was that it was a spinning whirl although the quantity found seems a little high. Perhaps your jest of the "gift shop" was not far from the truth. The priests made these whirls 'blessed by the god' so that the yarn produced by them would also bless the wearer of the resulting cloth. The fact you did not mention finding these in residential areas shoots my musings down in flames.

[@daniellassander]

Here is an armchair guess, they hanged from the ceiling forcing the people that went into the temple to remember that their god could smack them on the head with his hammer if they displeased him. But im not an archeologist, nor do i know anything about their culture and their habits and their god.

[@zarinaromanets7290]

Would there have been any use for a temple abacus 🧮?

[@mausercawley9491]

For counting offerings or something?