Description:
A bichrome, primarily green glazed faience openwork plaque, showing the face of the god Bes, wearing a large feather headdress, highlighted with dark markings. He has a thick, stubby nose and a large mouth with full lips, and he is frowning menacingly. His beard, the wrinkles in his forehead and his large, round ears have all been indicated in detail. The face is surrounded by a disc, the edge of which is crenulated. The amulet was intended to be worn, since it was pierced horizontally for suspension.
For parallels see British Museum London, inv.no. 1867,0506.3 (found in Rhodes); Louvre Paris, inv.nos. N 4231 A and E 1639 = Caubet - Pierrat-Bonnefois (2005), p. 103, no. 275; Christie's London, sale of 14 April 2011, lot 83, which sold for GBP 4375 (circa € 5000 at the time).
Background information:
The god who is usually called Bes was in fact the personification of a whole group of very similar gods, whose characteristics are too much muddled for us to be able to differentiate them and who, therefore, are all commonly referred to as Bes.
Bes is a god with a remarkable appearance; his face, surrounded by a lion’s mane and with his tongue often sticking out of his mouth, is quite gruesome, and so is his body which is that of a dwarf, with short crooked legs and usually a tail; normally he is wearing an animal skin and a headdress with feathers. Often he is holding one or more knives or snakes.
His main task is to give protection, especially in circumstances where dangers are lurking, such as during childbirth; so-called magical knives, used in the Middle Kingdom during rituals surrounding childbirth, depict Bes and other protective creatures; similarly, in later periods, Bes is present in the so-called birth house (mammisi) in temples.
But dangers were not only lurking during difficult moments, they were also feared in daily life. During the night people were sleeping, unaware of what was happening around them; to protect them, representations of Bes (or similar gods, like Taweret) were put on furniture like beds and headrests. Depictions of the god were also worn as amulets as a general protection against evil.
The face of Bes also appears on magical stelae, usually above the image of the child Horus. Although there may be a connection with his function as a protective god, the accompanying texts on the stelae inform us that Bes is here regarded as the old sun god, who is rejuvenated in the (solar) child.
The god was also associated with several musical instruments. In the Third Intermediate Period he was often depicted playing a stringed instrument, either a lyre or a long-necked lute, but already since the New Kingdom he is shown playing the (double) flute, or a drum or tambourine (Andrews (1994), p. 40 and fig. 37c; Romano (1989), p. 70-71; 109-110; 117; for comparable images in bronze see Roeder (1956), p. 99-100, § 141).
There are several opinions concerning the origins of Bes, and the meaning of his name (see Malaise (1990), p. 691-692). His name may be related to verbs meaning “to initiate”, “to emerge” or “to protect”. But is has also been suggested that the word indicates a prematurely born child or foetus (which was enveloped in a lion’s skin), making the god Bes the personification of such a prematurely born child, which also helps to explain why he is engaged in protecting mother and child (see Meeks (1992); Bulté (1991), p. 102, 108-109; Te Velde (1995), p. 330).
Bibliography:
Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt (London, British Museum Press, 1994);
Jeanne Bulté, Talismans égyptiens d’heureuse maternité. "Faïence" bleu-vert à pois foncés (Paris, CNRS, 1991);
Michel Malaise, “Bes et les croyances solaires”, in Sarah Israelit-Groll (ed.), Studies in Egyptology Presented to Miriam Lichtheim (Jerusalem, Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1990) II, p. 690-729;
Annie Caubet - Geneviève Pierrat-Bonnefois (eds.), Faïences de l’Antiquité, de l’Égypte à l’Iran (Paris, Éditions Musée du Louvre, 2005);
Dimitri Meeks, “Le nom du dieu Bes et ses implications mythologiques”, Intellectual Heritage of Egypt. Studies Presented to László Kákosy by Friends and Colleagues on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday (Studia Aegyptiaca XIV) (Budapest, 1992), p. 423-436;
James F. Romano, The Bes-Image in Pharaonic Egypt (New York, 1989);
Günther Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzefiguren (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Mitteilungen aus der ägyptischen Sammlung, Band VI) (Berlin, 1956);
Herman te Velde, “Bes”, in Karel van der Toorn a.o. (eds.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1995), p. 330-331.
Dating:
Third Intermediate Period, circa 1070-712 B.C.
Size:
Height circa 5 cm.
Provenance:
Dutch private collection, acquired from Keya Gallery, New York, on 6-7-2006; with Sotheby's New York, 7 June 2005, part of lot 134; before in a New Jersey private collection, 1970s.
Condition:
In excellent condition, with some staining; minor losses to the edge, not visible on the front side; there are some minuscule holes in the faience, caused by air bubbles during the firing process; the amulet has been glued to an acrylic block by a previous owner.
Price:
€ 2,000
Stock number:
E2506