A small alabaster schematic eye idol with a flat bell-shaped body, a short neck off-set by a V, with two incised eyes. Reverse flat, unmodelled. Tell Brak type. A charming miniature object!
 
Early Bronze Age Mesopotamian, Later Uruk period: Circa 3500-3100 BC.
 
Very Fine condition: complete and intact
Height 2.3 cms (0.9 ins).
 
Provenance: Ex Gorny & Mosch sale 305: Lot 828: Ex collection A.D.-U., Bavaria. In Germany since before 1990.
 
This type of figurine known as an eye idol, made of stone and having incised eyes, has been excavated at Tell Brak in ancient northern Mesopotamia, now Syria, where thousands were found in a building now called the Eye Temple. They were probably dedicated there as offerings.