Eye Symbolism and Dualism in the Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt and Israel
The concept of the ‘eye’ denotes much more in the ancient Near East than an organ that enabling sight in living creatures. The origin of the belief that the eye possesses certain powers originates from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and regions neighboring Israel. The eye discharged key symbolic roles and was attributed dualist qualities in the spiritual existence of the ancient people: eyes could be good or evil, divine and or devilish, protective or destructive. The duplexity of features attached to the eye caused it to appear in nearly all significant religious works reflecting the beliefs of the people of that period including written texts, sculptures, iconography, sacred objects, amulets, and prayers. These early societies generally lacked scientific and technological knowledge and tended to accord symbolic meaning to all extraordinary phenomena they encountered. Their lives and beliefs were thus steered by their beliefs. The symbolic connotations devised for the eye, which these societies created and attached to. It persist in some present-day societies.
Eski Yakındoğu’da Göz Sembolizmi ve Düalizm: Mezopotamya, Mısır ve İsrail
Antik Yakındoğu’da ‘göz’ kavramı canlıların görmesini sağlayan bir organ olmanın ötesinde çok farklı anlamlar ifade etmektedir. İyi ve kötü, ilahi ve şeytani, koruyucu ve yıkıcı gibi düalist güçlere sahip olduğuna inanılan göz, antik çağ insanının yaşamını şekillendiren dini hayatında oldukça önemli sembolik rollere sahip olmuştur. Göze yüklenen çift yönlü bu özellikler onu, o dönem insanının inançlarını yansıtan yazılı metin, heykel, ikonografi, kutsal obje, koruyucu muska ve dua gibi dini anlam içeren tüm eserlerde bir şekilde yer almasına neden olmuştur. Bilim ve teknoloji bilgisinden büyük ölçüde uzak olan bu toplumlar, her karşılaştıkları olağanüstü duruma sembolik bir anlam yükleme eğiliminde olmuşlardır ve dolayısıyla yaşam biçimlerini inançları doğrultusunda yönetmiş ve yönlendirmişlerdir. Bu toplumların yarattıkları ve anlam yükledikleri gözün sembolik çağrışımlarına bazı günümüz toplumlarında dahi inanılmaktadır. Gözün belirli güçlere sahip olduğuna duyulan inancın kökeni, Antik Mezopotamya, Mısır ve komşu bölgelerden İsrail’e kadar uzanmaktadır.
Dualism is both a religious and a philosophical doctrine that is measured by these two principles of the origin of the universe and the creative power of all beings. The phenomenon of dualism forms the building block of the beliefs and religious systems of some societies. Dualism describes polar distinctions such as good and evil, chaos and order, admiration and fear, or life and death, these binary particularities are critical elements for individuals who exist solely in accordance with their beliefs. The Mesopotamian and Levant societies are among the ancient Near East civilizations that most reflected dualism in their religious lives. The ancient Egyptian bidirectional view of was based on harmony and balance and was quite different from the other two civilizations mentioned above.
Ancient Egyptians learned from their lives and reasons for living to create balanced system that blended the good and the bad to achieve integrity that would lead them to the ultimate eternal goal. The conception of the numinous in these three civilizations can help to elucidate their divergent belief systems, lifestyles, and worldview issue. In turn, these differences can clarify their apprehensions of dualism and explain the dual features of the eye symbol. The significance of the notions of the evil eye and the divine protective eye in the Ancient Near East can thus be elucidated.
Scrutiny of sources expressing the phenomenon of dualism pertaining to the symbolism of the eye in the Ancient Near East societies clarifies that such a conception, which included the idea of the evil and the divine eye originated in these three early societies.
Certain norms mandated by the religious beliefs of ancient Mesopotamian societies, and the lifestyles of the people living in thesis region led to their perceptions of the universe to also be divided and demarcated with clear boundaries. These societies could not balance the good and the bad because of their beliefs and thus created a dualist reality constituted by their conception of the universe at its center. Assessing the symbolism of the eye enables the awareness that Mesopotamian society approached its symbolic value in a double-sided manner, focusing more on negative effects. Most experts, believe that the concept of the evil eye belief emerged from ancient Mesopotamia and spread to surrounding areas. Written documents and archaeological data reveal that the people of Sumer, who are believed to be the first inhabitants of the region, initiated, continued, and extended this belief.
According to Mesopotamian societies, the demons created by the sky god An represented the principal source of the evil eye because they caused all kinds of diabolic events. Thus, the evil eye was believed to cause diseases, famines, disasters, and other damage to human lives and livelihoods. Mesopotamians used magic, prayer, ritual, and most commonly, eye-shaped amulets to ward off or avoid the evil eye. The concept of the eye can also be associated with gods, even though this connection was uncommon in Ancient Mesopotamian societies where communities that accorded predominance to the negative aspect of the symbolic eye. The notion of the all-seeing and justice-meting eye was predominantly associated with the sky god, An; the moon god Nanna / Sin, sky gods such as the sun god Utu/ Šamaš, and Enlil, one of the most important gods of the pantheon,; and Marduk , the chief god of the Babylonian period.
The Egyptians perceived the universe differently from Mesopotamian society, Egyptians and thus focused more on the positive side of life evaluating all dualist approaches through harmony. They also emphasized the protective aspect of the symbolic eye Nonetheless, the existence of the evil eye belief in this society can be particularly understood through myths and iconographies. Horus myths and the use of the wedjat eye in the form of amulets most clearly evidence the existence of this belief. Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians believed the evil eye to threaten health, family, unity, and especially children. Like the Mesopotamians, they used prayers, spells, and amulets to ward off this evil power. The difference between the Egyptian conception of the evil eye and the Mesopotamian concerned the latter’s belief that the evil eyes of human beings could also cause damage to others.
The relationship of the eye with the divine world can be observed most clearly in ancient Near Eastern civilizations in Egypt, in the idea of the protective eye. First, the eye was associated with the sun and the moon which were the most prominent celestial bodies of the sky. It attained its protective quality through this association, which was disseminated through varied versions of myths. Egyptian literature encompasses numerous eye-related narratives such as the escape and return of the eye goddess of Ra, the creation of human beings from the tears of the creator god, and the wounding of Horus' eye by Seth. The emergence of these stories and their connections with worldly life revealed the protective role and importance of the eye in ancient Egyptian society.
Distinct differences like those observed in Mesopotamia attract attention when the approach of the Israeli citizens to the religious dimension of dualism, is noted in which the period after the society converted to monotheism. The religious beliefs of the people of Israel are founded on the acceptance of Yahweh as the only God, and all religious developments are collected in the Old Testament along with the teachings. The dualism between good and evil is evident in the Old Testament, in which a single phenomenon is referenced as good, and a two-dimensional evil embodies sin. Good emanates firmly and directly from God. Conversely, evil is vested in the devil, who was created by God for certain reasons. Evil may also be sourced from the wicked ideas inherent in human beings.
The sacred values of Judaism do not allow visual representations. Hence, all inferences of eye symbolism must be based on the foundational text, the Old Testament. This holy book contains many positive and negative references to the symbolic features of the eye. First, this belief is evidenced in the assertion that the evil eye originates from as the negative emotions of people, for instance, mischief and jealousy. Moreover, the positive symbolic features attributed to the eye are used metaphorically in the Old Testament. Among these references is the divine eye that first sees, knows and represents justice as the eye of God.
