Bes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite side

Bes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite side

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bes and his wife Beset appear on opposite sides of this element. Bes is nude and has his typical semi-leonine countenance and protruding tongue. Beset holds the same stance and also wears a feather crown, but she has a less animal-like and less exaggerated face, and is clothed in the so-called Isis-garment, knotted between her breasts, that comes into use in the Ptolemaic Period. Beset is a much older figure, but becomes particularly popular in the Ptolemaic Period. Basically she shares Bes's protective and apotropaic functions. Figures of Bes sometimes appear on independent columns, on the handle of a sistrum, or of a mirror. This element has fittings at both top and bottom.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite sideBes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite sideBes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite sideBes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite sideBes standing on a papyriform capital, Beset on opposite side

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.