Where do the Children Play? Some Thoughts on Toys in the Ancient Near East during the 3rd Millennium BCE

This article will briefly explore the material culture associated with infancy and childhood, focusing on object categories that can be potentially interpreted as playthings, such as clay rattles, spinning tops, whistles, and miniature vessels. These specific categories of objects are discussed considering their occurrence in child’s graves, as well as in domestic and cul-tic assemblages dating to the 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia, South-Eastern Anatolia, and the Levant. The article will review the variety of interpretation proposed for them arguing for multi-functional use, including that related to potential playthings. References to contemporary literary and iconographic sources, as well as to later 2nd-1st millennia BC case-studies, from the Ancient Near East and beyond will be made to widen the discussion.