Amuletsthe gallery← amulets.guru
Ancient Near East & Levant · c. 6000 BCE – 650 CE

Eye idols

Meaning

Flat figurines consisting mostly of staring eyes, sometimes two pairs or with a child figure incised, they represent a worshipper in permanent attentive watch before the deity, or possibly a watching goddess.

Intent

They were deposited in their thousands in the 'Eye Temple' at Tell Brak in Syria as votive offerings, standing in for the worshipper so that their devotion and petition continued without end. Their exact meaning is still debated.

Significance

The eye idols are a striking early example of the eye as the centre of religious attention. Some scholars see them as ancestors of later eye amulets. Their sheer number, estimated at over 20,000 fragments, shows mass votive practice.

History

They date to the Late Chalcolithic Uruk period (c. 3500–3300 BCE). Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie excavated the Eye Temple at Tell Brak in 1937–38, and similar figures are known from other northern Mesopotamian sites.

Making yours
3–10 cm. Flat alabaster or bone plaque with one or two pairs of incised ringed eyes on a stem body.
Ancient Near East & Levant: the tradition

Mesopotamian protection grew out of a world crowded with named demons, each with a job: Lamashtu killed infants, the utukku haunted, fever demons struck. Exorcists (ashipu) wrote incantation series such as Maqlû and the Lamashtu texts, and amulets put those texts and images to work. Carved stone animal seals of the Uruk period (c. 3500 BCE) are among the oldest amulet-seals anywhere. In the first millennium BCE, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian households hung Pazuzu heads and Lamashtu plaques. Phoenician traders spread Egyptianising amulets and glass faces across the Mediterranean, and in Sasanian Mesopotamia Jews, Christians and Mandaeans buried inscribed incantation bowls under their floors.

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Eye idolEye idolcirca 3700 date QS:P571,+3700-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –3500 B.C.Eye idolEye idolcirca 3700 date QS:P571,+3700-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –3500 B.C.Idole aux yeuxIdole aux yeuxbetween circa 3300 and circa 3000 BC date QS:P571,-3500-00-00T00:00:00Z/6,P1319,-3300-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,-3000-00-0Eye idolEye idolcirca 3700 date QS:P571,+3700-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 –3500 B.C.Augenidole Syrien Slg EbnötherAugenidole Syrien Slg EbnötherEye Idol from Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol from Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye idol, Alabaster, about 3200 BC Eye Temple, Tell Brak, Syria, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeEye idol, Alabaster, about 3200 BC Eye Temple, Tell Brak, Syria, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeÍdolo oculado (16186809078)Ídolo oculado (16186809078)Another Eye Idol from Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumAnother Eye Idol from Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol, Tell Brak Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol, Tell Brak Ashmolean MuseumEye Idols, Alabaster, about 3200 BC Eye Temple, Tell Brak, Syria, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeEye Idols, Alabaster, about 3200 BC Eye Temple, Tell Brak, Syria, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeÍdolo oculado Ereta del Pedregal Eneolítico (1)Ídolo oculado Ereta del Pedregal Eneolítico (1)Eye Idol Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye idols - Tell Brak BMEye idols - Tell Brak BMIdolo de Granja de CéspedesIdolo de Granja de CéspedesÍdolo cilíndrico oculado em calcário MNArqueologiaÍdolo cilíndrico oculado em calcário MNArqueologiaÍdolo oculado Ereta del Pedregal Eneolítico (4)Ídolo oculado Ereta del Pedregal Eneolítico (4)Şanlıurfa Müzesi Kalkolitik Çağ göz idolüŞanlıurfa Müzesi Kalkolitik Çağ göz idolüAnother Eye Idol, Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumAnother Eye Idol, Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol, Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol, Tell Brak, Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol from Tell Brak Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol from Tell Brak Ashmolean MuseumMuseum of Anatolian Civilizations 1320316 nevitMuseum of Anatolian Civilizations 1320316 nevitÍdolo oculado Cova de la Mallada VerdaÍdolo oculado Cova de la Mallada VerdaEye Idol Tell Brak Ashmolean MuseumEye Idol Tell Brak Ashmolean MuseumEye idols AshmoleanEye idols AshmoleanHeads of small figurines, Hcilar, 5500-5000 BC, MACAm 3050bwHeads of small figurines, Hcilar, 5500-5000 BC, MACAm 3050bwIdolo de Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal)Idolo de Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal)Tell Brak Eye Idols in the UCL Institute of ArchaeologyTell Brak Eye Idols in the UCL Institute of ArchaeologyEye Idol. From Iraq (from Tepe Gawra?). Late 4th century BCE. Sulaymaniyah Museum, IraqEye Idol. From Iraq (from Tepe Gawra?). Late 4th century BCE. Sulaymaniyah Museum, IraqPredynastic abstract figurine from EgyptPredynastic abstract figurine from EgyptTerracota eye idol proabably representing a deity, its precise function is unknown but may be related symbolically to spinning instrument, from Syria, Halaf culture, 3300-3000 BC, Louvre Lens, France Terracota eye idol proabably representing a deity, its precise function is unknown but may be related symbolically to spinning instrument, from Syria, Halaf culture, 3300-3000 BC, Louvre Lens, France Ídolo oculado Ereta del Pedregal Eneolítico (3)Ídolo oculado Ereta del Pedregal Eneolítico (3)

More from Ancient Near East & Levant: Pazuzu heads & figures · Lamashtu plaques · Stamp-seal & animal amulets · Phoenician & Punic glass faces · Aramaic incantation bowls · Luristan & Iranian bronze charms · Other & unsorted Ancient Near East
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