"Human-Headed Genie Holding a Basket and Cone" https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/70574
So, did the bucket and cone become the aspersorium and the aspergillum? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillum
Sounds good; I did assume it figured in a purification or cleansing ritual. But that's just the hinged Assyrian one. They're all slightly different. The Aztec? or Mayan? one is very sophisticated: looks like beaten metal-work, and the priest may be entering a cave, so my next guess would be portable brazier (ancient flashlight). I don't know where the middle picture is from; it's obviously older. The carving is more primitive, with the least detail, yet the objects must be of great importance. The big hand holding the middle one may be that of a god, perhaps showering rain or other blessings upon the life-forms below.
Rituals make for good theatre, so they endure. The reasons for, or the meanings behind such rituals change over time.
