Late Period Egypt
664-30 B.C.E.
Gold
1 9/16 x 9/16 x 3/16 in. (3.9 x 1.5 x 0.5 cm)
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Brooklyn Museum
The Ugly God of Bes
The god Bes is an ugly, bandy-legged Egyptian folk god who protects women during childbirth. Most often illustrated as a male dwarf, Bes is a grotesque dancing creature, a monkey with a large head and short thighs, and sometimes a knife-carrying, snake-strangling, threatening image with a protruding tongue.
Bes is said to bring good luck and prosperity to married couples and their children. The protector of sexuality, childbirth, women and children, Bes is often portrayed nude or clothed only in a feathered crown and leopard skin, with a lion's tail.
Bes was adopted by Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans—who used statuettes of Bes as a legionary.
Sources and Further Information
- About.com's Guide to Ancient Egypt
Hart, George. 2005 Bes. pp. 49-50 in The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Routledge: London.
Kozma, Chahira. 2005. Dwarfs in ancient Egypt. American Journal of Medical Genetics 140A(4):303-311.
Sampsell, Bonnie M. 2001. Ancient Egyptian Dwarfs. KMT 12(3):69.
From February 12 through May 2, 2010, the Brooklyn Museum will present an exhibition of Egyptian artifacts, called To Live Forever. The exhibition features part of the Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund collection, which were taken from tombs dated between the Old Kingdom through the Roman period. This photo essay is built from photos provided by Brooklyn Museum.
