The Changing Image of Bes

The blog post for this week has been written by Vanessa Foott, who obtained a distinction in her Masters in Egyptology from the University of Manchester in 2022. The subject of her research and dissertation was the assimilation of Bes in cultures beyond Egypt. For the last five seasons, she has worked as a small finds registrar for the South Asasif Conservation Project (SACP) for whom she is also a trustee. She has visited many of the local Egyptology societies in the UK in her role as Local Ambassador for The Egypt Exploration Society.

The name Bes is commonly used today to describe a variety of composite dwarf deities but was not actually attested in Egypt until the Twenty-first Dynasty. Figures found in an Old Kingdom context at Abusir and Giza show lion-headed men or men wearing lion masks (although the dating may be the Middle Kingdom) and the Middle Kingdom birth tusks have similar figures which are named as Aha. Within the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, the dwarf-type images are used to portray at least eight different entities which, in addition to Aha and Bes, can include Hayet, Soped, and Tettenu. The Bes images do not display the augustness of the majority of Egyptian gods. Instead they can be depicted as both fearsome and playful whilst their misshapenness was considered a sign of divinity (fig. 1). Like Hathor, they are commonly shown frontally, which is a sign of liminality and the power of the eye of Ra and can be shown with wadjet eyes on their heads or back.

Fig. 1: Bes amulet (Egypt Centre W2037C/b2)

 

These figures were popular from Nubia and possibly even further south on the African continent, throughout Egypt and the Middle East into Anatolia, and across the Mediterranean into the Iberian Peninsula. Evidence has been found as far afield as the subcontinent of India, Siberia, and Romania.

The original ‘birth’ place of Bes-type deities has been much debated. In the Late and Graeco-Roman Period, Bes is sometimes referred to as the ‘Lord of Southern Lands’ or the ‘Lord of Punt’, and his facial features appear similar to masks used by African tribes. In Cameroon, black pygmy deities are invoked to bring fertility and masks worn, sometimes covered in animal skins by the invokers. Wherever he originated from the general theme has spread and his forms and functions have intermingled with many different cultures.

Fig. 2: Birth Tusk BM EA18175 (Photo author’s own).

Aha (fig. 2) is naked, has rounded ears and a lion-like mane, a tail, and visible genitalia, snakes are held in each hand, dwarfism is not apparent at this stage and he is sometimes described as a giant. The name Aha, which is inscribed next to the figure on two of the tusks, can be translated as ‘fighter’, which may have originated at Hermopolis where he is thought to have been a protector of Thoth and prevented evil forces from jeopardising the birth of the sun, hence his protection for childbirth, women, and children. Figure 3 is a mask made of painted linen and gesso, which displays signs of wear. The painted motifs make the face look lion-like. It was found in a house at the Middle Kingdom settlement site of Kahun, which also contained a wooden figure and ivory clappers or wands. It may have been worn by a doctor or midwife attending a birth to aid in warding off evil.

Fig. 3: Bes Mask Manchester Museum 123 (Photo: Manchester Museum)

The New Kingdom saw a surge in the popularity of composite dwarf deities and many developments with both iconography and ideology began, with the image beginning to feature on a wide variety of objects. Bes is now shown with a typical body of a being with achondroplasia and hypothyroidism, which causes a large bulging forehead, thick lips, myxedema, making the tongue swell and protrude, pot belly, and skin wrinkles from excess flesh, whilst the limbs appear short in proportion to the body. Infant mortality was especially high in this period, which may have prompted this change with stronger magic needed for protection. Dwarves rarely survived beyond infancy and therefore an image of an adult with this condition may have provided the extra power required. There are figures of these deities in the divine birth scenes of both Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and Amenhotep III at Luxor temple. Although Bes is thought of as the non-elite household deity, he also played a role in the highest echelons of society, featuring on Tutankhamun’s bed, headrest (fig. 4), his chariot, and many other items found in his tomb.

Fig. 4: Tutankhamun's headrest (Cairo Museum)

Other changes during the New Kingdom include the addition of wings, which may be an incoming influence from the Near East, the ostrich plume headdress that is always shown frontally even when the face is in profile, sometimes with the addition of a disc or discs. The figures sometimes wear kilts, with or without aprons. Jewellery also begins to feature in the form of anklets, wristlets, and broad collars. The figures occasionally hold sceptres, a sword, or knives, which become more common later. Rarely, he is depicted shooting a bow.

 

His association with death becomes more pronounced from the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards when he starts to feature in the Books of the Dead. Spell 164:

 “A dwarf stands before her, another behind her, each facing her and wearing plumes. Each has the head of a falcon, the other a human head”.

In a Twentieth Dynasty tomb, a Bes image is named as Sopdu in an accompanying text. Sopdu is usually represented as a falcon, associated with Horus in the form of Horus-Sopdu. He was also a god of the Asiatic regions and as such was associated with Baal.

During the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, the form of the beard can sometimes feature spiral ringlets. At the same time, the figures begin to appear on cippi and to show attributes of other gods such as Shed, who has powers over snakes and demons. Bes can now be depicted with a sword raised in one hand and either an uraeus or falcon in the other. He can sport the side-lock of youth associated with Horus the Child (Greek Harpokrates), can be animal-headed with a dwarf body or Bes headed with a full-size body and, as time goes on, the hybridity becomes more varied. Some figures from this period can have a distinct negroid appearance with round cheeks, broad nose and thick lips (fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Kohl pot. Louvre Museum N 4469 (Photo author’s own)

 

Figure 6 is a Late Period bronze figurine found at the Serapeum at Saqqara, which shows an ithyphallic Bes-pantheos with bird wings and tail, four human arms, and uraei on each foot. The figure is standing on a base decorated with a snake, lion, hippopotamus, scorpion, jackal, and crocodile. The lower left hand may have once held a was or papyrus sceptre and possibly a snake.

 

Fig. 6: Composite Bes-type deity. Louvre Museum N 5141 (Photo Louvre Museum)

Bes figures can also be shown holding lions or gazelles across their shoulders or standing on them. Crocodiles and snakes are all common features and Bes becomes known as a master of animals showing that he has control over and can provide protection from, dangerous creatures. This attribute may have originated further east and has been assimilated into the Bes typology. 

The Metternich Stela (fig. 7) now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a cippus showing Bes providing protection for Horus. It contains the inscription “The protection of Horus is that great dwarf (nmw) who goes through the underworld (or: the Two Lands) in the twilight”. This image demonstrates the round cheeks, thick lips, and broad nose mentioned previously. Cippi often show baboons with Bes, a connection which really began in the New Kingdom when Bes could even be said to have simian-like features. This demonstrates the solar aspects of Bes and his links to Re and his fiery eyes.

Fig. 7: The Metternich Stela. MMA 50.85 (Photo Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Many Late Period Bes images have been excavated from sites other than Egypt. Tunisia, Cyprus, across the Levant, and places within the Achaemenid Empire, particularly Susa and Persepolis, together with sites across the Western Mediterranean have all yielded Bes objects. This indicates that by the First Millennium BC, Bes had already become known beyond territory that had been under Egyptian control. 

The Graeco-Roman Bes continues to be the protector of Horus and on some cippi he merges with Horus appearing as a Bes-headed deity with a child’s body. This could imply that the Horus figure is wearing a Bes mask and during the Roman Period he can actually take the place of Horus. His role of protector of death and rebirth can be seen in the Osiris chamber in the Hathor temple at Dendera where he is pictured under the figure of Osiris on his bier impregnating Isis in the form of a falcon (fig. 8). An almost identical depiction is on the walls of the Roman Period mammisi on the site. This building also features Bes column capitals and depictions of him dancing in front of Ihy-Harsomtus (Harpokrates).

 

Fig. 8: Bes in the Osiris chamber at Dendera (Photo author’s own)

 

Previously, there had been no official cult. However, evidence has been found at Saqqara of a Bes sanctuary where incubation was practised in chambers decorated with Bes figures and erotic pictures of women. This would have needed attendants, possibly in the form of a priesthood. Information from classical writers such as Demetrius of Alexandria and Ammianus Marcellus provide evidence for an oracular cult of Bes centred in the Osiris Temple at Abydos where incubation was also undertaken to provide answers to questions. Graffiti has been found on the walls invoking Bes and offerings may have been made to him using Bes jugs and Bes lamps, which could have been used both in temple rituals and at domestic shrines. Further evidence of his cultic status comes from the temple of Soknopaiou Nesos, in the desert north of the Fayoum, where a Roman Period temple inventory lists Bes figures made of bronze and silver.

Small plaques featuring male and female Bes figures were used in household shrines to promote fertility. Some feature inscriptions on the reverse asking Bes for help to conceive (fig. 9). Prior to this, female Bes figures, although not unknown, were rare. Another stela dated to the third or fourth century AD has a spell on the back stating that he is “the great lord of women’s wombs, healer, feeder, and awakener”. The figure on the front shows Bes holding a snake and a sword but with the features of Ptah-Pataikos. The stela is part of the Michailidis Collection and it has not been possible to obtain an image.

Fig. 9: Terracotta plaque. E 26921 (Photo The Louvre Museum)

Bes remained popular well into the Christian era and is still attested as late as the sixth century AD. Additionally, in Luxor today there are still beliefs that Bes-type entities haunt the precincts of Karnak!