Necklace with the head of the Egyptian god Bes
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This gold necklace features an image of the Egyptian god Bes, who faces the viewer directly. Bes has a shaggy beard, wide nose, thick eyebrows, a wrinkled forehead and hemispherical ears. His eyes and eyebrows were originally inlaid. He wears a tall, feathered crown. Most of the necklace is comprised of gold plaques with images of walking horses accompanied by attendants. Several of these plaques have gold bosses with granulated borders and gold disks hanging off them. The two ends of the clasp of the necklace are in the form of lotus blossoms. Images of Bes were very popular in the Achaemenid Empire, for unknown reasons. They appear on a wide variety of material, including coins, seals, jewelry, bronze and ceramic vessels, and even on a gold model chariot. In Egyptian thought Bes played a protective role, and it is possible that this function was ascribed to him by the Persians as well. Regardless, Egypt was an important part of the Achaemenid Empire, and many aspects of Egyptian material culture were appropriated by the Persians. The attendants leading horses are likely a reference to the importance of horsemanship in Achaemenid ideology. Similar horses are depicted at Persepolis, and in various royal inscriptions the Persian king extols his prowess as a rider.
Ancient Near Eastern Art
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.