The cornet is one those distinctive pottery types which has come to define the Ghassulian culture. These pointed cups were often decorated with red lines or triangles painted on the buff surface of the cup (“buff” being a term used for the natural color of the clay). The cornets were probably intended to imitate the horns of animals. They seem to have had a ceremonial function.

A curious example of the cornet was discovered at Gilat in the Beersheva Valley where archaeologists found a vessel shaped like a ram with three cornets attached to its back. These vessels were typically filled through an opening in their back while the liquid was poured from a spout in their mouth.

Similar “theriomorphic” (animal-shaped) vessels were found in the earliest levels of the Sin Temple at Khafajah, near modern-day Baghdad. (We will take a closer look at these in a future entry.) As you may recall, theriomorphic libation vessels are also depicted on the uppermost register of the Warka Vase. These date to the EB I. If the date we have assigned to the Ghassulian culture is correct then our ram-shaped libation vessel probably belongs to the EB I also.