Alabaster 'Eye Idols'

The most prominent feature of this figure is its large, staring eyes, which seem to make up most of the head. Stone figures of this type were excavated in their hundreds from the site of Tell Brak in north-eastern Syria. Different types are known with most made from light-coloured stone. Some are ‘twins’ and are made as a double figure joined at the shoulder. Others have a smaller figure carved in front of them, as in this example. All show the characteristic large eyes. It is thought they may have left as offerings and represent worshippers or gods. They were left in such large numbers at Tell Brak that the building where they were found became known as the ‘Eye Temple’.

Tell Brak was one of the earliest cities of the Middle East. Today the site is over 40m high and 48ha in area. It had reached the size and importance of a city around 3800 BC and remained politically and economically important for around one thousand years. Important buildings, like the ‘Eye Temple’ were rebuilt over many centuries. The city controlled major routes running east-west between northern Iraq and the Mediterranean and northwards to sources of metal, timber and stone in central Anatolia.

Tell Brak was first excavated in the 1930s by Max Mallowan, husband of Agatha Christie. Evocative descriptions of their archaeological work, including Tell Brak, can be found in her book ‘Come, tell me how you live’.