Hi guys, today I will continue our discussion on the mysterious ancient “handbags” which
are presented in some of the oldest civilizations on Earth.
Multiple cultures around the world had similar illustrations of handbag-like objects which
stroked curiosity and speculation.
The most talked about “handbag” artifacts are the following: the ones carried by winged
genies /semi-gods Apakllu from Mesopotamia; the ones on top of a pillar at Gobekli tepe
in Turkey; and the bag carried by a person along with the feathered serpent god at Mexico.
There are also the stone bags of the Jiroft culture from ancient Iran and the story of
the three Māori bags or baskets of knowledge.
The shared handbag depictions are quite interesting.
Not that it is the only object shared by diverse cultures, but its natural and mysterious feature.
People are not so speculative when it comes to reoccurring ancient murals of spears, bows
and arrows, and other tools since these are obvious and self-explanatory.
While the contents of the bags are hidden from the viewers thus rather secretive.
It was suggested that these bags could be evidence of time travel, ancient aliens or
contained pieces of forgotten knowledge.
In this video, I will focus on the puzzling stone ‘handbags” originate in ancient
Iran which were also discovered in Mesopotamian temples.
These objects are the ones that bear the most resemblance to the so-called bags on the Gobekli
tepe pillar.
Let’s see if they are truly handbags or something else unexpected.
Chronologically, the earliest possible ‘handbags’ are from the neolithic site Gobekli tepe dated
from 10,000 BC and 8,000 BC.
About 5,000 years later, the stone ‘bags’ of the Jiroft culture spread throughout the
Near East in the 3rd millennium BC.
Then over a thousand years after, we have the Neo-Assyrian reliefs of genies carrying
buckets or handbags in the 9th century BC, and the Olmec carving of a person with a bag
in La Venta, Mexico likely between 900 BC to 400 BC during which time La Venta became
the most prominent Olmec center.
As for the Māori bags of knowledge story, it probably happened another thousand plus
years later since the Māori people came to New Zealand from Polynesia in the 13th century.
So, these presumed “handbag” portrayals are separated by thousands of years.
If these handbags have certain common, cross-culture symbolic meanings, then I would assume there
would be more illustrations or mentions of them, right?
The fact that these bag-like items were disconnected by a thousand to 5,000 years makes me wonder
if they were meant to represent the same type of object or if their functions are unrelated.
In my previous video, I explained why the handbags depicted in Assyrian reliefs; could
be pollen-filled buckets, which exhibited artificial pollination of date palms, or a
water container for sprinkling rituals.
Whether bags or buckets, these containers are designed to carry all kinds of stuff.
Since the Assyrian and Olmec reliefs show a person or a spirit carrying a bag-like item,
these items could indeed be handbags, buckets, or baskets.
While at Gobekli tepe, these bag-looking objects stand alone and are not associated with a
person or one’s hand.
In such a depiction, are we sure that these are actually handbags that contain things?
They look like bags, yes, but they also echo kettlebells.
The stone bags from the early Bronze Age Jiroft culture at Near East mostly resemble the ones
at Gobekli tepe.
They are also individual artifacts – meaning not accompanied by a sculpted person or god.
The majority of the Jiroft ‘bags’ were excavated with other beautifully carved stone
vessels and containers at Southeast Iran.
Archeologists found over a thousand stone pieces at Tepe Yahya, indicating local manufacturing.
There is convincing evidence to suggest that in the 3rd millennia BC, Tepe Yahya was a
production and distribution center for these stone wares.
The elaborate carvings with repeating designs, both geometric and naturalistic, are easily
recognizable.
These embellished items are made of chlorite rich soapstone, which is abundant in the Southern
Iranian region.
Soapstone is relatively soft and easy to carve; it is also durable and heat-resistant.
It has been used for cooking and heating equipment for millennia.
These intricate and delicate stone artifacts are mesmerizing.
It’s understandable that they were very desirable and widely traded in ancient times,
like today’s expensive Swiss watches and fine Italian shoes.
At Tepe Yahya, some stone items have been found with cuneiform inscriptions referring
to rulers and known Sumerian deities, probably commissioned by the Sumerians in the west.
More than 500 vessels, bags and fragments carved in similar style have been recovered
from sites ranging from Uzbekistan and the Indus Valley in the east to Susa and all the
major Sumerian sites in Mesopotamia.
For example, this interestingly styled ‘bag’ was discovered at the Sumerian city Ur from
2600-2400 BC.
The dark colored stone items with handles look like bags.
Their sizes and designs vary but all seem to be within the handbag range.
However, I believe they were neither handbags nor interpretation of handbags.
My main reason being that these bags are solid stone.
There are no openings to carry anything.
From the other Jiroft vessels with thin edges and the small cosmetic bottles, we can tell
that the ancient crafters were highly skilled and capable to carve small openings if they
wanted to.
Therefore, if the masons needed to make stone handbags then they would have done so – but
they didn’t.
This indicates these stone objects with handles were solid by design.
Being solid with no openings, they could not be handbags.
Then what was their purpose or function?
The other stone vessels from the same archaeological sites could be cups and containers but why
are the ones with handles solid?
What’s the point of having a finely carved solid stone piece?
Stone is a natural dense material.
Even a small amount of stone can be pretty heavy to carry.
Just think about the strongman competitions use stone balls to test one’s strength.
In the Bronze Age, ancient people utilized this quality of stone and used them as measuring
weights in trading and commerce.
This practice was prevalent in the earliest Bronze Age cultures, such as Mesopotamia,
Egypt and Indus Valley.
Bronze Age merchants in these regions developed their standardized system of weights that
eventually spread across the Eurasian continent through repeated contacts and comparisons.
Metals, crops, other produces, even old money such as gold and silver rings were measured
and weighed during trading activities.
Thanks to ancient Egyptians’ murals, we can see their weighing scales and different
kinds of weights.
Archeologists discovered that people in the Indus valley used stone cubes as weights;
while the Mesopotamians and Egyptians had varied designs for their stone weights: some
are in simple shapes, many were curated: bull heads, ducks, rabbits, frogs and hippos.
You might ask, what does this have anything to do with the stone bag-shaped artifacts?
Well, here is the thing: these solid bags might indeed be ancient weights that were
prolific in markets at that time.
The early Sumerian and Egyptian weights sure don’t look like stone bags.
But what about these Assyrian bronze lion weights?
They have handles on top for easy handling.
The light weights might not need the handles since two fingers might be sufficient to pick
them up, but heavier weights would need the strength of a full arm to maneuver.
That’s when a handle on weight would be practical.
Heavy weights with handles on top were common in the ancient world, since they would need
to be moved on and off the scale to measure commodities.
For instance, over 2,200 years ago, in the Qin dynasty of ancient China, the emperor
unified the standards on weights, lengths and other measurements.
The weights were made with handles or openings on top so they can be moved by the grasp of
a hand or a stick through the opening in order to be carried by two people.
The handles on these weights are there for a good reason.
Remember those vintage weights in a wooden box?
They have handles on top too so people can better move them by their handles.
Hence, it’s possible that these Jiroft solid stone objects with handles were used as measuring
weights.
Here is another question: if these stone ‘bags’ were mere weights, why did the ancients carve
these exquisite patterns on them?
Weights don’t have to be so pretty, right?
Hmm, that’s not true.
We have already seen the carved stone weights from ancient Sumer and Egypt – they are
simplistic yet quite beautiful, like modern minimalistic sculptures.
Aesthetics is as equally important to the ancient people from thousands of years ago
as to us now.
This is deeply rooted as a composition of human nature.
Plus, weights were crucially important to ancient merchants.
I can totally imagine a set of stylized or customized weights being appealing to wealthy
businessmen in antiquity.
Trade and barter have been going on for as long as humans needed to exchange items.
The first few civilizations in the Near East probably traded with each other frequently
as early as five thousand years ago.
The trading and commerce friendly city states got fresh and exotic produce, crafts, livestock,
goods and became rich fast.
Trading also enhanced cross-cultural human contact bringing different ideas and innovations
to a whole new level.
The great civilizations in this region, Sumer, Akkad, Egypt, Elam and more rose and developed
through cultural interactions and exchanges with foreigners.
Weights and scales played an under-estimated but key role in trading and by extent in the
development of ancient civilizations.
Nowadays, we rarely see such weights; not because we don’t weigh things as frequently
but due to weighing scales having progressed and been modernized.
When we buy groceries at the supermarket, scales are used to weigh meat, grains, vegetables
or fruit.
Most of the time, the cashier weighs the produce at the checkout and we don’t think much
about it let alone visualize weights.
But in other parts of the world, good old weights and scales are still used in some
marketplaces, such as the traditional steelyard balances.
Btw, according to a Greek researcher, Thomas G. Chondros, a simple steelyard balance with
a lever mechanism first appeared in the ancient Near East over 5,000 years ago.
Speaking of a steelyard, I want to show you some ancient steelyard weights from the Roman
and Byzantine eras.
These nice-looking metal busts were weights used by merchants 1500-1800 years ago.
Such weights were possibly even mass produced.
Who said that weights can’t be beautiful?
Maybe the ancient business people treated their weights as personalized signatures for
their shops.
So far, we’ve learned that stone weights were common in the Bronze Age and essential
in everyday trading.
Ancient weights can be highly decorative.
And the heavier weights usually had handles.
So, looking back at the solid stone bags from the Jiroft culture, it makes sense to consider
that they could be special weights commissioned by prestigious families, institutions, or
temples in various states.
On top of that, I think some of the attractive stone vessels from the Jiroft sites were perhaps
meant to be used as measuring cups.
Stone measuring containers are more durable than pottery ones and likely cheaper than
bronze cups.
These soapstone pieces have unique designs and are difficult to reproduce thus each would
serve well as official standardized measuring equipment.
Picture over 4,000 years ago, people in and around the Near East and the Indus Valley,
ordered and purchased stone measuring sets and serving vessels from the Jiroft culture,
in a way not that different from how one might order a customized Persian carpet.
Therefore, I hypothesize these bag-shaped stone artifacts from this region were definitely
not handbags and much more likely to be weights.
Sometimes we inevitably mystify ancient artifacts since many records were lost in history; hence
we have to make educated guesses on historical objects.
These curious cross-cultural ancient handbag symbols have been talked about at length but
they might not have the proposed connection or being handbags at all.
Our history is far more complex and there is so much to be further explored.
Like the concept of a prehistoric industrial civilization related to megalithic sites which
I’ve made many videos presenting evidence of.
But the handbag debate might not lead to previous civilizations or ancient aliens visiting earth.
If the solid stone ‘bags’ in the Near East were weights, then what about the so-called
handbags on the Gobekli tepe pillar?
Could they be weights too?
There is not much contextual information to postulate.
I tend to think that prehistoric arts came from nature and basic human needs, which means
these bag-looking things on the pillar could have utilitarian functions.
I do have conjectures on what the Gobekli tepe bag-like carvings might be – which
I’ll save for another video.
If you have any insights, please leave me a comment.
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This is Curious Being, I am Tina.
Thanks for watching and see you next time