Tall Birāk

Tall Birāk, ancient site located in the fertile Nahr al-Khābūr basin in Al-Ḥasakah governorate, Syria; it was inhabited from c. 3200 to c. 2200 bc. One of the most interesting discoveries at Birāk was the Eye Temple (c. 3000), so named because of the thousands of small stone “eye idols” found there. These curious objects have almost square bodies and thin heads carved with two to six large eyes. The temple itself is important for its use of typically southern Mesopotamian decorative motifs.

During the time of the Akkadian king Naram-Sin (reigned c. 2254–c. 2218), a royal residence was built at Birāk, and the town served as a control point for all the roads of the Jazīrah desert.