LOVELY UGLY BES!

Branko F. van Oppen de Ruiter finds beauty, charm and religious significance in Egypt’s famous dwarf god.

- Branko F.van Oppen de Ruiter

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.