Ancient Near East, Tel Brak, modern day Syria, Late Uruk Period, ca. 3300 to 3000 BCE. Hand-carved using drills and string cutting from a creamy alabaster, this is one of the most famous artifacts from early Mesopotamia. It has a bell-shaped body surmounted by two perforated circles, forming "eyes." Eye idols were named in the 1930s by the British archaeologist Max Mallowan when he was excavating at the mound called Tel Brak and found hundreds of small anthropomorphic items of similar form to this one - some kind of simplified body topped by large discs for eyes and no other discernible facial features. He named the place where he found them the Temple of the Eyes. Size: 1.45" W x 2.6" H (3.7 cm x 6.6 cm); 3" H (7.6 cm) on included custom stand.

Items like these have been found other places in the ancient Near East rather than the Temple of the Eyes, and more recently, French archaeologist Catherine Breniquet has speculated that examples like this one - characterized as a Type 3 - could have also been used for separating wool while spinning. Other scholars have suggested they might be lids for narrow jars or parts of a firedog. What do you think this mysterious object might have been?

See a very similar example in the Louvre (AO 30002).

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection acquired before 2000

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#126266

Encrustations on surface. Eyes have been reattached, but repair is very difficult to see. Small chip from side of one eye.