9000 year old Neolithic Spirit Masks, the World’s Oldest Masks.
These masks were unearthed in the Judean desert around Jerusalem and were sculpted by some of our earliest ancestors who decided to give up the hunter gatherer lifestyle to instead settle in the Judean hills, beginning a farming lifestyle.
It is thought that this change in existence sparked more organised religious beliefs and a worship of ancestors, prompting a necessity for artifacts such as these.
Numerous masks like these have been found in the region. Sometimes, they are found as a result of an archaeological excavation in areas with thousands of other objects. Things such as rope baskets, beads, shells, flint knives, bone figurines and decorated human skulls. Some of these stone masks even had hair attached as beards and moustaches.
In other cases though, these masks have been found by accident. One such case was an accidental discovery by a farmer who was tilling a field in the early 1970s. From there, they fell into the hands of an antique dealer. Sadly, after changing possession numerous times, the precise location of where the masks were found is unknown.
