Bes was the beloved dwarf-god of ancient Egypt — the grotesque, lion-faced protector of households, mothers, children and childbirth, who drove away evil spirits, snakes and misfortune with his fierce ugliness, music and laughter. Unlike the dignified great gods, Bes was a god of the common people and the home, a cheerful, ugly, protective little god cherished in every Egyptian household.
The Grotesque Protector
Bes (Egyptian Bes) was utterly unlike the elegant, idealised great gods of Egypt. He was depicted as a dwarf with a large head, a grotesque, almost comical face like that of a lion, a protruding tongue, a bushy mane and beard, bow legs, and often a lion's or leopard's skin and tail — deliberately ugly and strange. And his very ugliness was his power: his grotesque, frightening appearance was believed to scare away evil spirits, demons and misfortune. Where the great gods repelled evil with majesty, Bes repelled it by being more frightening and uncanny than the evil itself, frightening off the forces of harm with his fierce grimace, his noise and his strangeness.
The Guardian of the Home and Childbirth
Bes was, above all, a protector of the household, mothers, children, and women in childbirth. He was especially associated with childbirth: he was believed to be present at every birth, dancing, shouting, shaking rattles and brandishing knives to drive away the evil spirits and dangers that threatened the mother and the newborn child — for childbirth was perilous, and Bes was the fierce guardian who protected mother and baby in that dangerous hour. He watched over children, protected sleepers (especially from snakes and bad dreams), and guarded the home against all manner of evil. His image was carved on beds, headrests, mirrors, cosmetic items and amulets — the protective little god present in the most intimate corners of daily life.
The God of Joy, Music and Pleasure
For all his fierceness against evil, Bes was a god of joy, music, dance, laughter and pleasure. He was associated with merriment, with music and dancing (he was often shown playing instruments or dancing), with sexuality and fertility, and with all the simple joys of life and the home. He brought good cheer and protected the happy occasions of life — feasts, celebrations, the pleasures of love and family. He was thus a wonderfully human god: ugly but lovable, fierce against evil but full of joy, the cheerful, protective spirit of the household who guarded the family and shared in its happiness.
The Beloved Household God
Bes endures as one of the most beloved and distinctive of all the Egyptian gods — the grotesque dwarf-god of the home, the fierce protector of mothers, children and childbirth, the driver-away of evil, and the cheerful god of joy, music and pleasure. He embodies the Egyptian religion of the common people and the home, far from the grand temples of the great gods, and a wonderful truth: that the protector of what people loved most — their families, their children, their joys — was not a majestic deity but a funny, ugly, fierce and cheerful little god, cherished in every household in the land.
Ugly, grinning and fierce, the dwarf-god frightens off evil with his grimace and his noise — the cheerful little guardian of the home, dancing and brandishing knives to protect every mother, child and sleeper in Egypt.