Ancient toys found in Syria turn out to be baby rattles

Sometimes, to make a discovery, you just have to look at the old in a new way. This was the case with ceramic fragments discovered in the 1930s in the ancient Syrian city of Hama. Almost 90 years they dusted in the archives, until the researcher Georges Muamar did not recognise them ... children's rattles.

The new work, published in the journal Childhood in the Past, sheds light on one of the most touching aspects of Bronze Age life - the care of infants.

Read more: Georges Mouamar et al, Infant Care in Early Bronze Age Syria: Newly Identified Clay Rattles at Hama, Childhood in the Past (2025). DOI: 10.1080/17585716.2025.2489258

📜 Archaeological luck

The artefacts were found back in the 1930s by a Danish expedition led by Professor Harald Ingolt. However, at the time they were not recognised for what they were. It was only when Muammar, studying the Hama collection, noticed familiar shapes - similar to those he had already seen in the National Museum in Damascus - that the puzzle came together.

"It was a happy coincidence, but within a study that was just about everyday life and childhood in Hama," says project leader Dr Mette Hald.

🍼 What the ancient toys were like

The scientists analysed a total of 19 fragments from the pottery. Most of them are hollow handles 4.5-6cm long and about 2cm in diameter. The size is just right for a child's palm - or the hand of an older brother or sister who was entrusted with entertaining the baby.

Some pens were painted with patterns - spirals, stripes, zigzags - in warm colours from dark red to black. Such items were widespread throughout the northern Levant, with similar finds in Zalakiyyat, Qatna and Tell Arak.

The main question is how exactly were these objects used? Scholars speculate that they served both as toys and perhaps as objects for rituals. But in the everyday context where they were most often found - in dwellings - they were most likely used to soothe infants.

🔊 Loud discoveries (and not so loud)

Some of the rattles found in Zalakiyyat turned out to be whole - with pebbles inside. When shaken, they produce a soft, soft sound - not exactly a musical instrument, but quite suitable for entertaining a baby.

"We experimented with authentic specimens and the sound they make is very similar to modern plastic rattles," says Dr Hald.

It is also interesting that the appearance of these toys coincides with the population growth in Ham around 2500 B.C. The streets became narrower, the houses more cramped - and so there were more children. With adults busy working, the children left at home needed simple but effective ways to occupy themselves - and of course, the little ones.

🏺 Childhood as an archaeological mystery

'We will continue to look for objects that can be related to children,' says Dr Hald. - 'It's an important but often overlooked part of ancient life.