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Bes

Period:
Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
Date:
664–30 B.C.
Geography:
From Egypt
Medium:
Blue, yellow faience
Dimensions:
l. 6 cm (2 3/8 in.) × w. 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line:
Gift of Helen Miller Gould, 1910
Accession Number:
10.130.1991
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 134
This small double-sided figure depicts the beloved god Bes with his body of a dwarf, leonine head, and feather headdress. The bright blue faience is has linear details in an equally bright contrasting yellow-green, so that the god looks a bit like a cookie with icing.
Formerly in the collection of the Reverend Chauncey Murch (died 1907). Collected between 1883 and 1906 while Murch was a missionary in Egypt. Collection purchased by the Museum from the Murch family with funds provided by Helen Miller Gould, 1910.

Timelines
Egypt, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

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