Protection on a chair
The back of Hatnefer’s chair places Bes between protective symbols associated with Isis and with stability. Found in the context of her burial near the tomb chapel of her son Senenmut, the object provides an unusually concrete setting for the image. A household protector could be built into a useful piece of furniture, close to the body of its user. The decoration does not need a surviving epic about Bes to be meaningful evidence. Its arrangement communicates a wish for safety through the combination of divine figure, signs, craftsmanship, and the object’s practical form.
Source: Hatnefer’s Chair, 36.3.152 · Hatnefer’s Chair, 36.3.152, back decoration and excavation context
Two faces, more directions
A small faience amulet in the Met joins two Bes figures back to back and enriches them with silver details. The museum suggests that this unusual doubling may imply awareness of danger from every direction. It also proposes possible household or fertility protection rather than claiming a securely recovered original use. That distinction matters. The object survives, but the precise prayers, location, and owner’s intentions do not. The interpretation starts from what the maker emphasized: a protective figure multiplied and made conspicuous through valuable materials despite the object’s very small size.
Source: Amulet with twinned Bes-images, 23.6.36 · Met 23.6.36, description of doubled figures, silver additions, and possible use
Above the endangered child
On the Metternich Stela, a Bes head appears over Horus, who grasps dangerous animals and stands upon crocodiles. The larger image supports the healing texts surrounding it. Bes is therefore not restricted to domestic decoration; a familiar protective presence can participate in an elaborate temple monument. The accompanying Horus narrative even invokes a great dwarf among the child’s safeguards, although Budge marks the identification of that phrase with Bes as tentative. Keeping visual identification separate from uncertain textual interpretation prevents a persuasive resemblance from becoming false certainty. The different objects show protection at several scales, from furniture to amulet to public healing stone.
Sources: Magical Stela with Horus the Child, 50.85; Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations · Met 50.85, Bes head above Horus; Legends VIII, Thoth’s litany and note 246
- Period / witness
- Selected New Kingdom through Late Period objects, approximately fifteenth–fourth centuries BCE.
- Recording context
- Hatnefer’s chair from her excavated Theban burial; twinned Bes amulet, Met 23.6.36; Metternich Stela 50.85.
A recording location is not necessarily a story’s origin. Dates of texts, copies, and translations answer different questions.
Explore time & place →Read the sources
These references support the explanation above. Rights and edition notes are recorded individually.
Hatnefer’s Chair, 36.3.152 ↗
Department of Egyptian Art · Object ca. 1491–1473 BCE; undated catalogue page
Edition & rights noteAmulet with twinned Bes-images, 23.6.36 ↗
Department of Egyptian Art · Object ca. 1300–700 BCE; undated catalogue page
Edition & rights noteMagical Stela with Horus the Child, 50.85 ↗
Department of Egyptian Art · Object 360–343 BCE; undated catalogue page
Edition & rights noteLegends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations ↗
E. A. Wallis Budge (1857–1934) · 1912; digital edition updated 2021
Edition & rights note