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A recent study by Dr. Georges Mouamar and his colleagues investigated the largest assemblage of securely identified rattles in the Near East. The findings are in the journal Childhood in the Past.

A total of 19 rattle fragments were analyzed, all coming from the EB IV Period (ca. 2500–2000 BCE) in Hama. They were initially excavated by a Danish team under the direction of archaeology professor Harald Ingholt in the 1930s. However, the ceramic sherds were not identified as rattles for over 90 years.

"The study is part of a larger research project led by myself, in which we explore the variety of everyday, ordinary life in the ancient Syrian town of Hama. We're looking at, among other things, food practices and trade, but we also focus on the lives of children," says Dr. Mette Hald, the project leader.

"The find of the rattles was a lucky coincidence, when Georges Mouamar saw the handles in the Hama collection and instantly recognized them as fragments of the same type of rattles he had previously seen in the National Museum in Damascus. So you could say it was both a lucky accident, but within the research on children which we were already focusing on."

Most of the handles were hollow and could be classified into two groups: those that were painted and those that were undecorated. The handles were usually cylindrical and decorated with a protruding knob, or had a flat base. Only a single handle had a rounded base without a knob. Meanwhile, the decorated rattles usually featured dark buff, reddish, or black bands, or diagonal and spiral designs.

Rattles in the Levant usually came in one of three types: rattles without handles, zoomorphic rattles, and rattles with handles. The rattles from Hama, as well as a few surrounding contemporary sites with which they were compared, were handled rattles and formed a distinct northern Levantine rattle variant. These types of rattles have been found at Hama, Al-Zalaqiyat, Qatna, Tell 'As, and Tell Araq.

Rattles had traditionally been interpreted as multifunctional objects used for music, ritual, and as toys. Because of how frequently they occur in household contexts, a dual function is often hypothesized.

Based on their context within a domestic neighborhood, size, and sound-making capabilities, it was proposed that the rattles were likely used to soothe and stimulate infants.

The handles of the Hama rattles were small, usually only 4.5–6 cm in length and had a diameter of only 2 cm. This size is ideal for an infant or an older sibling tasked with entertaining a baby.

Intact rattles found at Al-Zalaqiyat, which were comparable to the rattles found at Hama, still had pebbles inside their bodies.

"The material inside is of stone or baked clay, none of which degrades, and the holes in the body of the rattle are too small for the stone/clay to fall out," explains Dr. Hald.

Experiments done on the Al-Zalaqiyat rattles found that the sound produced by them was soft, similar to modern plastic rattles. Thus, they were not loud enough to serve as musical instruments, but ideal for entertaining children.

The first clay rattles at Hama appear in level J6, which coincides with a seeming increase in population when the overall settlement structure changed from an open-plan one with broad avenues to one characterized by tightly packed buildings along narrow alleyways.

Assuming that many, if not most, of these buildings were domestic spaces, this is indicative of a population increase, in which the number of infants would also have risen.

With parents occupied beyond the household, they would have required methods to keep their little ones engaged. Given the craftsmanship and pattern of these rattles, they were probably among the standard repertoire provided by potters. These rattles could be left at home with the infants and younger siblings to keep them happy and quiet while the adults worked.

When asked about future research endeavors, Dr. Hald had this to say, "We'll certainly keep our eyes peeled for other items from Hama which might relate to children, as this is something that has often been overlooked."

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