Amulet of Bes

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Late Period–Ptolemaic Period (664–30 BCE)

Egyptian

The dwarf Bes, with his feathered headdress, lion mane and tail, and protruding tongue, was the protector of women and children. Huge numbers of amulets were made of him in the Ptolemaic period.

Status: On View, Gallery 50
Department: Arts of Africa

Artist: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Amulet of Bes
Place: Egypt (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 700 BCE–1 BCE
Medium: Faience
Dimensions: 7 × 2.5 × 1.5 cm (2 3/4 × 1 × 9/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Charles L. Hutchinson, Henry H. Getty, and Norman W. Harris
Reference Number: 1892.55
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/135835/manifest.json

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 130n4.

Art Institute of Chicago, When the Greeks Ruled: Egypt After Alexander the Great, October 31, 2013 - July 27, 2014; traveled to New York, NY, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, September 16, 2014 - January 4, 2015.
Art Institute of Chicago, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Feb. 11, 2022 - present.

Panayotis Kyticas (d. 1924), Cairo; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1892; price reimbursed by Charles L. Hutchinson and Henry H. Getty, 1892.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.