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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2003.245
Title
Terracotta Eye Idol, Tel Brak
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 3000 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
Period
Early Dynastic III period
Culture
Sumerian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/72347

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Carol Hebb and Alan Feldbaum
Accession Year
2003
Object Number
2003.245
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Terracotta sculpture, known as an eye idol, probably from the Mesopotamian site of Tell Brak in northeastern Syria, where thousands of such sculptures were found in a part of the site now known as the "Eye Temple" and dating to the late 4th millennium B.C.

The most common type of eye idol is a flat figurine with a trapezoidal body and narrow neck topped by oversized eyes. This item is one of the less common three dimensional idols, with a conical body and pierced eyes.

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu