These remarkable eyes (right), fashioned from stone and shell, are among a number of new finds that provide remarkable insights into the life and death of Bronze Age royalty in ancient Syria, where the passing of a princess was marked by the decapitation of donkeys and sacrifice of babies.
Measuring around the size of a thumbnail and dating back to around 2400 BC, the eyes are thought to have come from a statue made of perishable material such as wood. They are among new finds to come from the ruins of an ancient city in northern Syria containing the only known elite, possibly royal, cemetery in the region that dates back to the early Bronze Age.
Poor donkeys. . . . .