Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · stela

Stela with Bes and Tutu

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Two powerful gods stand on either side of a table with offerings: Bes, shown brandishing a sword, and Tutu, depicted as a sphinx with a snakeheaded tail. The seven demons controlled by Tutu are pictured above him. Reliefs on stelae such as this one were intended to placate the gods, keeping them in a favorable disposition. Alternately, placed in a temple, they served a votive function, expressing the donor’s gratitude for protection against illness and misfortune. Caption: Stela with Bes and Tutu, 332–30 B.C.E.. Limestone, 10 7/16 x 18 3/4 x 3 9/16 in., 47.4 lb. (26.5 x 47.7 x 9 cm, 21.5kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 58.98. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A carved limestone artifact depicting a lion and a figure, possibly a deity.

The artifact is a rectangular relief made from limestone, featuring detailed carvings of a lion and a humanoid figure, which may represent a deity. The style is characteristic of ancient Egyptian art, with an emphasis on profile depictions and structured compositions. The artifact includes symmetrical and repetitive elements seen in ceremonial or protective scenes.

religious Middle Kingdom good
Deities Bes
Materials limestone

Connections

Found at Egypt
Deities Bes
Materials Limestone

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 58.98 tier-2
  • BKM-Object 3660 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.