Figure of the God Bes
Description
Object Label: The unusual frontal attitude, extended tongue, and feathered headdress of the leonine god Bes offer a powerful image of protection. This terrifying deity was believed to guard worshippers during the most vulnerable moments of pregnancy and childbirth, and in the transition between life and death. Caption: Figure of the God Bes, ca. 945–712 B.C.E., or later. Faience, 6 7/8 x 3 5/8 x 7/8 in. (17.5 x 9.2 x 2.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.309E. (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 blue faience amulet depicting the dwarf god Bes, known for protection.
The artifact is a blue faience amulet shaped in the image of the god Bes. Bes is characterized by a fearsome appearance with a bearded face, prominent headdress, and muscular arms, intended to ward off evil. The craftsmanship includes detailed features, with an emphasis on the deity's face and attire, consistent with protective amulets used in domestic and personal contexts.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.309E tier-2
- BKM-Object 4012 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.