Museum visits never lack for cool stuff! So here is a sighting from a recent visit to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
These are anthropomorphic sarcophagi (ossuaries) from a chalcolithic burial cave found near Peki’in in the Galilee. Made of painted clay, they are dated to 5,500-6,500 years ago.
Clearly functional as containers for bones, they are also highly decorated – and hilarious, at least to my modern eyes. The guy on the right seems to be saying “Whaaaat??!?!” at finding himself in the afterlife, while the one on the left is playing it cool.
Here are two more:
The left one has two big eared faces – and the other has three animal snouts (?).
These copper age folks sure had a sense of humor!