9,000-Year-Old Rare Group of Masks on Display at Israel Museum

The Israel Museum in Jerusalem is now displaying rare, 9,000-year-old stone masks.

According to the museum, the ancient masks originated in Israel during the Neolithic period. This is the first time that the group of masks will be exhibited together.

The 'Halloween-like masks' - complete with large eyes, wide mouth and small nose - originated from the Judean Hills and nearby Judean Desert.

Scientists believe that the masks represent ancestors of the Stone Age people living in Israel, Discovery News reported. The masks give a rare insight into earliest known communal rituals.

The exhibit called 'Face to Face: The Oldest Masks in the World' will run from March 11 through September 13, 2014, the museum said in a news release.

Debby Hershman, curator of prehistoric cultures at the Israel Museum, and colleagues spent a decade analysing the masks. Stone and the patina used in the masks showed that the artifacts originated from a 50 kilometer area around the Judean Desert and Judean Hills, The Times of Israel reported.

The masks were probably made during a period when ancient human left his hunter-gatherer lifestyle and took up farming.

Why the masks were made is still a mystery because there is no written work explaining its usage. Researchers believe that the masks might represent ancestors of these ancient people.

"It is important to say that these are not living people, these are spirits," Hershman told The Times of Israel.

"It is extraordinary to be able to present side by side this rare group of ancient stone masks, all originating from the same region in the ancient Land of Israel," said James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum, according to a news release.