Ancient Near Eastern Mesopotamian Tell Brak hand carved stone Eye idol. One of the most famous artifact types from early Mesopotamia. Shaped like a weight surmounted by two eyes, much scholarly conjecture has been proposed about their meanings. These so called Eye Idols are seen by some scholars most likely as votive figurines of worshipers, a type of votive object which developed over time throughout Mesopotamia into a large number of figurative idols, all of them notable for their accentuated eyes. It is noted that the state of open eyes on a religious idol symbolized devotion to the gods. Thus these stone eye idols might have been some of the earliest devotional objects from the Near East. Circa: 2700 BC to 2300 BC. Ancient Near Eastern Syrian Idols, Figures, Figurines, Statues, and Collectibles.