Makeda on the Eye Goddess and the Evil Eye

The Eye Goddess and the Evil Eye

Posted by vincent in Makeda's Musings on November 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

The eyes are the most exclusive feature of the hundreds of votive figures found in the excavation of the Syrian “Eye Temple” of Tell Brak, a temple that was exclusively “dedicated to the worship of Ishtar (Inanna).” (13)  The eye-idols, as they are known, are representations of Ishtar.  The variations on their single iconographic form are almost without end.  Some of the figures don headdresses, some wear necklaces, others are decorated with chevrons suggestive of breasts, and there are others whose necks and heads are abstracted phallic or vulvar forms.  Each is unique and yet they...