“... The animation of the sensory organs is one of the prime objectives of the mīs pî and the wpt-r because only then is the image fully alive and able to function properly. In the mīs pî the organ of primary emphasis was the mouth, but the opening of the eyes was an essential part of the animation process. The Babylon text mentions explicitly that the priest is to open the statue’s eye, while in the Nineveh version the opening of the eye is suggested by the repeated command to set the image’s eyes toward the rising sun. In the wpt-r the opening of the eyes with various tools and balls of natron is mentioned and depicted explicitly in multiple scenes. In some cases the ritual was even identified by its fuller title, “Opening of the Mouth and Eyes.” In the Eden story the opening of the eyes is likewise significant. The serpent claims, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened (wənipqəḥû ʿênêkem), and you will be like gods (wihyiytem kēʾlōhîm), knowing good and evil.” If the author of Genesis 2 was familiar with the pīt pî and perhaps the wpt-r, or, rather, simply the idea that the animation of the sensory organs was thought to enliven a divine statue, then his reference to the opening of the eyes and becoming like ʾĕlōhîm may have been a subtle allusion to this practice. In each case, the opening of the eyes was not only an act of animation but of divinization, or, in Gen 3:5–6, an attempt by Adam and Eve at divinization. ...”