Final answer:
Sumerian votive figures were religious offerings representing worshippers and used as surrogates for continuous prayers in temples. Large eyes and specific postures denote their spiritual significance. They differ from Egyptian statues which often depicted pharaonic divinity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Sumerian Votive Figures
The Sumerian votive figures from ancient Mesopotamia, such as those found at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq), were primarily created as religious offerings or surrogates for individuals.
Usually made of materials like gypsum and inlaid with shell and black limestone, these statues often feature large, hollowed-out eye sockets and hold a hieratic scale indicating the importance of the depicted figures, with large eyes symbolizing a connection to the divine.
Not portraits, these figures represent the essence of worship, humility, and attentiveness. Women are typically shown holding small vessels while men are depicted in long, fringed skirts, with both typically presented in a posture of prayer.
The Sumerian worshiper statues had significant spiritual functions; they were placed within temples to offer continuous prayers to the gods. This practice stemmed from the belief that the gods were omnipresent and required constant appeasement to manage the unpredictable and often destructive nature of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Comparing this to Egyptian art, where the focus was on pharaonic grandeur, Sumerian statues emphasized the collective religious devotion of society's members, not its rulers. These figures, unlike those from the Egyptian civilization, were not meant to depict divinity but instead the act of supplication.