<em>Figure of Bes with Child</em>, ca. 1075-656 B.C.E. Faience, 7 1/2 x 2 7/8 x 5/8 in. (19.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.08.480.4_emagic.jpg)

Figure of Bes with Child, ca. 1075-656 B.C.E. Faience, 7 1/2 x 2 7/8 x 5/8 in. (19.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.08.480.4_emagic.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Figure of Bes with Child

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Special Exhibitions, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

The dangers of childbirth could be reduced by having images of the god Bes in the tomb. Bes protected women during delivery and then assured the safety of newborn children. Images of Bes were often placed in tombs for both reasons. They ensured the deceased’s safety during rebirth into the next world, a main function of Egyptian tombs.

Bes had a lion’s head and mane and wore a feather headdress. The spots on this figurine suggest the leopard skin Bes sometimes wore.

MEDIUM Faience

DATES ca. 1075-656 B.C.E.

PERIOD Third Intermediate Period

DIMENSIONS 7 1/2 x 2 7/8 x 5/8 in. (19.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Special Exhibitions, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

EXHIBITIONS

A Woman's Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt

ACCESSION NUMBER 08.480.4

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

CAPTION Figure of Bes with Child, ca. 1075-656 B.C.E. Faience, 7 1/2 x 2 7/8 x 5/8 in. (19.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.08.480.4_emagic.jpg)

IMAGE installation, Egyptian Magic Installation (2008), CUR.08.480.4_emagic.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.