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Statue of a falcon-headed god
The plumage of the falcon is finely executed, the folded wings cross on the back and end in the form of a fan. The body of the deity with its big belly and crooked legs is one of Bes or of Pataikos. On the back of the head semi circular traces suggest that the statue was wearing a removable crown which has now disappeared. The priest placed such a crown on the head of the deity during the daily morning rituals. The statue was originally painted. Traces are still visible in the sunken relief of the hands. A break through the lower part of the legs has been repaired.
Egypt
Late Dynastic/Ptolemaic Period , I Millennium BC
Limestone
Height 35 cm ( 13 3⁄4 in )
Base 23 x 11 cm
Former private collection P.M. Maastricht, TheNetherlands prior to 1980
A. Gasse et J.-C. Grenier: Nains et Faucons, Bibliothèque des écoles des Hautes Etudes Sciences Religieuses, Vol. 156, Grenoble 2012
Surface analyses: M.S.M.A.P. Laboratory, Bordeaux
S. Schoske & D. Wildung: Gott und Götter im Alten Ägypten, Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1992
S. Albersmeier: Ägyptische Kunst, Bestandskatalog Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Minerva 2007
É. Naville: The Shrine of Saft el Henneh and the Land of Goshen, The Egypt Exploration Fund, 4th Memoir, Trübner&Co London 1888
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The body type, the dwarfish features of the god are well-known and frequently represented in the Late Period. The role of Bes, protector of pregnant women, childbirth and young children is also too well known to require recapitulation here. But the character of this god cannot be reduced simply to his role of the clownish guardian of the gynaecium. One of his characteristics is that he forms a part in the composition of complex, polymorphous divinities, manifesting themselves mainly in the realm of magic — the pantheist divinities. They all have the body of Bes, but are endowed with different and most often multiple heads (generally from two to seven), wings, and often with a crocodile's tail. When the god only has one head, this is usually a ram's. One rare example is the “pantheist Bes stele” exhibited in Karlsruhe, here the god is represented with the head of a baboon.
