Amulet in the Form of the God Bes
Description
Object Label: Bes was popularly worshipped as protector of women and infants, and as a facilitator of fertility. Shown standing on the head and shoulders of a woman with a baby, in Bes with Lute the god protects the mother and newborn by driving away potential harm with the sounds of his musical instrument. The large, round ears and facial folds seen on the Finial are reminiscent of a snarling lion and connect Bes with powerful felines. Because Bes was a multifaceted god who offered protection during such times of transition as pregnancy and birth, women wore his images, like the Amulet, while giving birth or during rites of passage. Caption: Amulet in the Form of the God Bes, ca. 1390–1322 B.C.E.. Gold, 1 7/16 x 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.6 x 1.7 x 1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.710E. (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 gold amulet depicting the god Bes, known for protection and fertility.
This artifact is a gold amulet shaped in the likeness of the dwarf god Bes, who is commonly associated with protection, childbirth, and domestic joy in ancient Egyptian culture. The figure exhibits typical attributes of Bes, such as a lion-like face, bushy eyebrows, and a protruded tongue. Despite its small size, the amulet is intricately detailed, indicating skilled craftsmanship.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.710E tier-2
- BKM-Object 4084 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.