Syria, Tell Brak, Middle Uruk period, 4th millennium BCE. This is a smooth alabaster idol dominated by huge, staring eyes with incised details. The head - dominated by the eyes - jut above a trapezoidal body that appears to wear a cloak thrown over the shoulders. The alabaster is translucent when held to the light. Comes with custom stand. Size: 1" W x 1.25" H (2.5 cm x 3.2 cm); height on stand: 1.75" (4.4 cm).

Tell Brak was a major Mesopotamian city in northeastern Syria, located on a trade route between the Tigris river valley, Anatolia, the Euphrates, and the Mediterranean Sea. The most famous building excavated at this huge site was the Eye Temple, where thousands of figures made of stone with incised eyes have been excavated. Archaeologists believe that these were placed there as offerings. Wide eyes implied attentiveness to the gods in Mesopotamian art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1988.323.8) has a very similar example to this one; another type, with "spectacles" made of perforated circles, is held by the Louvre (AO 30002).

Provenance: Ex- Private German collection, before 2000

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#120143

Shape is excellent. Slight encrustation in the grooves.