Abstract:In this study the ''Eye Idols'' widely found around the Near East Hinterland are re-examined.The idols which played a significant part in mankind's cultural history were discovered in large numbers fo...In this study the ''Eye Idols'' widely found around the Near East Hinterland are re-examined.The idols which played a significant part in mankind's cultural history were discovered in large numbers for the first time in North Syria's Tell Brak within a temple, which caused the building to be named the "Eye Temple".Within this context, the examples which were found in the excavation conducted in 1985 at Pirot Höyük (Tell), located to the east of Malatya, are evaluated together with similar finds: with the similarities and differences determined amongst other Anatolian finds and those from Northern Syria, Northern Iraq, Khuzistan of Iran, Southern Mesopotamia, Israel examples while being separately evaluated.Within the typological evaluation, it was determined that these idols are produced in two distinct forms which are referred to, as "Eye Idols" and "Spectacle Idols".In this way when the find spots of idols dated from the Chalcolithic Era are considered, it is interpreted that there may be regional belief differences within this vast geography.When comparison is made with similar examples, the Pirot Höyük examples belonged to the "Spectacle Idols" group.The area in which the eye symbol is found extends from Anatolia in the North to Basra Bay, and the Eastern Mediterranean in the South.Read More