In appearance, the Bes-figure is charmingly hideous. Its iconography, it should be stressed, is neither consistent nor evolving. The familiar image of the leonine dwarf with the mask-like grimace and tall-feathered crown first appears in the Eighteenth Dynasty. The figure can be male or female; its body can be ideally beautiful or hideously deformed. With this paradoxical physique, Bes embodies seemingly contradicting traits that exemplify his importance in magic and religion, popular beliefs and everyday life in ancient Egypt. Examining his animalistic features will bring out dualities that will illuminate this lovely/ugly character.
Animalistic Appearance
The most recognisable characteristics of the Bes-figure are its facial features. The head is portrayed frontally (only occasionally in full or half profile). The male Bes has bushy eyebrows and a moustache and beard that are sometimes unwieldy and furry, at other times stylised in decorative swirls. He tends to have deep-set gawking eyes, a pudgy nose and thick lips pulled into a teeth-baring grin – often (from the New Kingdom onwards) with a protruding tongue. These features evince his apotropaic function. Animalistic aspects are emphasised by a leonine mane and round ears. His face is habitually drawn into a bestial grimace, occasionally resembling that of a lion or baboon. Sometimes these features give him a Nubian appearance.
The familiar stunted and rotund, dwarfish body of the Bes-figure represents the opposite of the ideal athletically perfect physique. The male Bes may even have pendulous breasts (see opposite, top left). His bandy legs are short and thick, with his feet at times pointing outward. His bottom is usually pronounced and often has a feline tail, sometimes with a tuft. Normally his penis is small and, as a rule, circumcised. Only very rarely is he portrayed with an enormous phallus (opposite, top right).
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Denne historien er fra July / August 2020-utgaven av Ancient Egypt.
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INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER
Sean McLachlan explores the recently reopened interior of this iconic Third Dynasty Saqqara monument.
PER MESUT: for younger readers
She Who Loves Silence
Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband
Campbell Price describes an offering table with a touching significance.
Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth
Campbell Price describes the significance of two statue busts on display in the Museum.
TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy
Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy explain how scientific examination of the ‘Belfast Mummy’ is revealing much new information about her life and times.
Lost Golden City
An Egyptian Mission searching for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun has discovered a settlement – “The Dazzling of Aten” – described as the largest city ever found in Egypt (see above). Finds bearing the cartouches of Amenhotep III (see opposite, top) date the settlement to his reign, c. 1390-1352 BC – making it about 3400 years old.
Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem
BOOK REVIEWS
Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price
BOOK REVIEWS
Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara
An Egyptian team working on a Sixth Dynasty pyramid complex near the Teti pyramid at Saqqara has made a series of important discoveries.
Map Of Egypt
What’s in a name? It is easy for us to forget that the names we associate with the pyramids – such as the Meidum Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid or the Black Pyramid – would have been meaningless to their builders.
